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Mike Pence Campaigns in Iowa; Treasury Secretary Heads to China; Middle East Unrest; Holiday Weekend Violence. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired July 05, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:44]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Four mass shootings just hours apart. We are getting new information now about the cases and the suspects.

SARA SIDNER, CNN HOST: And the gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, will now face the families of his victims as he heads to his sentencing hearing today, we will bring you the latest from inside the courtroom.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: Plus, escalating tensions leading to deadly airstrikes in the Middle East. We are on the ground inside the West Bank, where Israeli forces have wrapped what they call the largest military incursion there in 20 years.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with John Berman and Sara Sidner. You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: This morning, we're learning of for mass shootings all within a span of a couple hours overnight, Boston; Salisbury, Maryland; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Washington, D.C.; in total, four dead 27 injured.

This follows a deadly rampage in Philadelphia. Officials say the suspect there opened fire on a city street, shooting people at random and killing five. The suspect now faces multiple charges, including murder, and is being held in jail without bond.

CNN's Josh Campbell and Danny Freeman tracking the latest developments for us.

Danny, I understand you were in court for this initial appearance. What did you see?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John.

I just left court about an hour-and-a-half ago. Right now, we have relocated outside of Philadelphia police headquarters. But I was in that courtroom when Kimbrady Carriker, 40 years old -- this is the suspect in that quintuple homicide back from the evening before July 4.

It was a preliminary arraignment. It only lasted about 15 minutes. But the judge, the magistrate judge, read off a laundry list of charges that this man is facing, including murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment, and violation of uniform firearms act, in addition to other charges as well.

And I just got to say, we -- it was the first time that we have seen Mr. Carriker, of course, in person since that shooting back on July 3. He was sitting in a white jumpsuit. His arms were crossed throughout the duration of the proceedings. He was fairly motionless. And he really did not say very much, short of one-word responses to his appointed public defender and then to the judge as well.

And then, when we got to that conversation about bail specifically, the magistrate judge said that public safety is clearly an issue here and there are no set of conditions in which, speaking to the defendant, you wouldn't be a flight risk.

So, again, that's how we got to being held without bail. Now, CNN this morning, our folks on that show, they actually spoke to the district attorney of Philadelphia, Larry Krasner, earlier about this case. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KRASNER, PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This was random. This was someone who set out to kill strangers, which, of course, has become way too common in the United States.

This is just a tragedy at the -- at the most profound, deepest level. We're talking about completely innocent bystanders who did absolutely nothing to put themselves at risk. And they have suffered this horrifying consequence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Now, in this particular preliminary arraignment, Mr. Carriker did not enter a plea.

We reached out to the public defender's office for comment. They declined to comment. And, at this point, his next court appearance is on July 24. But, again, this all stems from that July 3 shooting, multiple victims, including five dead -- John, back to you.

BERMAN: All right, Danny Freeman. That's Philadelphia.

Let's focus on what happened in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Josh Campbell, you're helping us understand what happened there. We didn't even learn about this until a couple hours ago. What can you tell us?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: No, that's right.

We're learning, John, that three people were killed, seven people were injured in a mass shooting overnight at a Fourth of July block party in Shreveport, Louisiana. Authorities say that, just before midnight, you have members of the community that are out enjoying each other, enjoying the celebration, that celebration struck by gunfire.

An unknown number of suspects opened fire. Police say that they don't have any suspects right now, any identity, certainly too soon to know what the motive is.

Authorities did provide an update. I will let you listen here to one of the lieutenants with the Shreveport Police Department talking about how difficult it was for first responders to even get to the victims.

[11:05:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. VAN WRAY, SHREVEPORT POLICE DEPARTMENT: Getting here and getting EMS here, it was a difficult thing.

A lot of us had to park our cars and take off running just to get down the street, because there was so many cars on the side of the street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, authorities say that, again, seven injured, but that number could go up, as some of those who were injured actually transported themselves to local hospitals, rather than waiting for ambulances.

So we will be watching for that. There's also an update that's expected to begin any moment from Shreveport police on the status of that manhunt, yet another mass shooting in the United States at a Fourth of July celebration.

As you mentioned, we continue to learn about more, a shooting overnight we're learning about in Boston, five people shot there, and, just in, a shooting overnight in the San Francisco Bay Area, five people shot there as well, certainly a very violent few days here in the United States, John.

BERMAN: All right, Josh, keep us posted. Thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much, John.

Any moment now, the gunman who killed 23 people at that Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in 2019 is about to face the families of his victims. The federal sentencing hearing for Patrick Crusius is set to get under way this hour.

Now, he pleaded guilty, you might remember, back in February to 90 charges, half of them federal hate crimes. Authorities say that he carried out the attack with the sole intent of killing immigrants and Mexicans. As part of the plea deal, Crusius will not face a possible death sentence related to these federal charges, but has agreed to accept 90 consecutive life sentences.

Victim impact statements are expected to begin this afternoon. And it could last two days. This is all happening on the federal level at this moment. Crusius still faces state charges, though. And Texas prosecutors have said that they plan to seek the death penalty there. That trial has not yet been scheduled -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, now to the Middle East.

Israel's military says it carried on airstrikes in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire from Palestinian militants, this latest back- and-forth coming just hours after Israeli forces withdrew from its largest military option -- operation in the West Bank town of Jenin in more than 20 years.

The Palestinians say the Israeli operation left at least 12 people dead and more than 100 people injured. One Israeli soldier was also killed in that Jenin operation.

I spoke earlier to CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, who was on the ground there in Jenin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: What are you seeing and hearing from your vantage point?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sara, I just want you to take a look at the utter devastation around me.

And you are looking at me from an overhead shot because of exactly the reason you said. There is little infrastructure that is functioning right now in Jenin camp. My cameraman is perched on a balcony just to try to get you a signal while I'm here on ground level.

Just look at these piles of rubble. This is one of the main thoroughfares. And, if you can look at it now, it is completely torn up. The street has been turned to mud. You might see the flow of people. There's actually some U.N. workers just behind me here.

All throughout, as we have been walking through, you can see United Nations workers, Red Crescent workers, NGOs trying to provide that help in support. One NGO worker told me that some 7,000 to 8,000 people have been made homeless by this raid.

But it's not until today that many are coming home to find out what's left of their place. I want to point out this vehicle that's just here. You can see the sheer force, the sheer power of this raid, the strongest, the largest military raid by the Israeli army in 20 years.

It says -- the Israeli military says it was here to take out terror infrastructure, it was here to neutralize weapons sites, that this place was being used as a terrorist haven. But for many of the families and residents who live here -- it is one of the most densely populated, one of the most impoverished quarters -- they feel that they're simply innocents caught in the crossfire -- Sara.

SIDNER: Can you tell me, Salma, you know what you're hearing from people? Because, as you mentioned, Israel says, look, we were going after terrorist targets that have attacked Israel.

But there has been a call for retaliation from some of the Palestinian militant groups. What are you hearing in Jenin on that? ABDELAZIZ: What's so extraordinary, Sara, especially when you look at

this devastation across here, is there is so much resistance, so much anger, so much defiance coming from Jenin camp.

Earlier today, because, remember, everyone just came back to the camp today -- earlier today, these streets were packed with a burial for those dead, turned demonstration, if you will, thousands of people chanting in the streets that that blood will not be spilled in vain, that they will continue to fight, that they will continue to retaliate.

What was even more extraordinary was to see that many of those armed Palestinian factions that the Israeli military says it was targeting, they were sweeping through the streets armed, shooting celebratory gunfire, continuing to say that this is defiant.

[11:10:09]

I spoke to some residents who, again, believe it or not, looking at this here, were telling me: "We won. This was victory. This was resistance."

And that's the cycle of violence that means families could be caught up in a another round, in another raid. Remember, the Israeli military said this raid is over, but it reserves the right to attack again. And with these Palestinian factions saying they are up for that fight, Sara, it's hard to imagine how life just doesn't get more difficult here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: Thank you to our Salma Abdelaziz there in Jenin -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you, Sara.

This afternoon, President Biden will welcome the prime minister of Sweden to the White House. The administration says that the visit will strengthen the already close ties between the two countries. And it, of course, comes as Sweden continues to seek membership into the NATO alliance.

Separately, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is on her way to Beijing, as the White House tries once more to improve its strained relations with China. The White House, though, downplaying expectations for this trip.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is live at the White House for us with more on this.

Priscilla, what is the White House hoping for with Yellen's trip then from China, if they're already downplaying expectations going in?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Still, Kate, the goal here is to smooth tensions between the two countries.

This is the second Cabinet-level official to visit China within the last month. Remember, Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited China just last month. So, Secretary -- Treasury Secretary Yellen here really trying to, again, smooth out those tensions at a critical time. This is a high-level engagement.

And it will come -- it will for her being opportunity to meet face to face with her counterparts. Now, as you mentioned, a senior Treasury official already setting expectations pretty low by saying that they weren't expecting a significant breakthrough, more likely just a frank conversation between the two countries.

But there's a range of issues that they could still discuss, for example, allegations of human rights abuses, responsibly managing competition, and working together on global challenges, like climate change.

And really, over the last few months, we have seen Treasury Secretary Yellen signal a deep desire to make sure that those lines of communication with China were open. And, just this week, she met with the Chinese ambassador here in D.C., laying the groundwork for this visit that she is going on today.

And the readout from that said -- quote -- "open lines of communication." That's really been the through line for the visits this year, where the administration is saying, look, we need to keep talking to China, especially in a moment where tensions are quite strained -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: And lines of communication with China also important regarding the ongoing war in Ukraine, of course.

And, as I mentioned, the Swedish prime minister is going to be at the White House today. Are you -- what are you hearing about expectations if that's going to be coming up, where the focus is today?

ALVAREZ: That's certainly going to be a key topic of discussion, as it is going into the NATO summit next week, which President Biden will be attending.

But having the Swedish prime minister here is a notable moment of support for Sweden, which is trying to become part of -- become a NATO member. Now, Turkey has been blocking that. So it is notable that that is happening this week, just days away from that NATO summit, where, again, Ukraine a key topic of discussion -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: A big show -- and a big show of support from President Biden hosting the prime minister today at the White House.

It's good to see, Priscilla. Thanks -- John.

BERMAN: All right, accusations of explosives planted at a nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

Beachgoers, beware. A shark spotted swimming near the shore of a crowded beach sends people scrambling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [11:18:29]

BERMAN: A federal judge has sided with some Republican attorneys general and blocked Biden administration officials from communicating with social media companies about content.

That is in response to a lawsuit that accuses the White House of going too far to crack down on COVID disinformation. The order applies to several agencies, including the Department of Home -- Health and Human Services, the CDC, the DOJ and the FBI.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come out!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Did you see that fin? I wonder if we can put that video back up again. That was a big shark in the beach there at the Florida Panhandle.

People there spotted it, and they got understandably frightened, I think, some of them trying to get out of the water. You can hear people shouting. Florida did record the highest number of unprovoked shark bites worldwide in 2022.

A mechanical glitch on a roller coaster left eight riders stuck upside down for hours. This happened at a fair in Northeastern Wisconsin. Authorities say the Fire Ball roller coaster stalled midloop. Because of the height, special equipment and teams had to be called in for the rescue, which took more than three hours -- Sara.

SIDNER: Sharks and broken roller coasters. Not good.

All right, former Vice President and GOP presidential candidate Mike Pence is about to make his second campaign stop of the day in Iowa. He already met with voters in Sioux City this morning as part of his three-day blitz across the critical caucus state.

[11:20:01]

CNN's Kyung Lah has been following the Pence campaign. She joins us now from Le Mars, Iowa, with a huge -- and I say again -- huge ice cream in her hand.

What is that all about?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: First of all, this is a perfectly respectable ice cream...

(LAUGHTER)

LAH: ... especially if you're reporting from Le Mars, Iowa.

This is, according to the city's Web site, the ice cream capital of the world. There's more ice cream produced by one company here than anywhere else in the world. And this, at this ice cream shop behind me, doing exactly what I'm doing, over ice cream, the former vice president will be bringing his message to the people of this county.

This is the county seat, this town. And Le Mars is going to be where we're going to see the strategy unfold, something we have seen all week, a 99-county strategy where, over ice cream or corn, the vice president, the former vice president, wants to reintroduce himself to Iowa voters, talking about things that they can connect with.

And it is something that the campaign says that, as a Midwesterner, as someone who really enjoys the sort of retail politics, that they believe that this is how Vice President Mike Pence will make his way as the presidential nominee for the Republican Party.

Right now, he's really known as Trump's V.P. So this is a reintroduction of sorts. But the breakfast meet-and-greet, all of the retail politics that we have seen, the July 4 parade, has focused on Pence and his message. Vice President -- his former running mate and president, Donald Trump, is not here this week in Iowa.

And it is something that Mike Pence did point out when asked by reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can't account for what other campaigns decided, but, for me, it was vitally important to be here, where the journey to the White House always begins and to spend two miles, at times jogging up hill, to take our case to the people of Iowa.

And I promise you, we're going to keep running that hard all the way to the finish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: So, three counties today. A total of 10 this week is the plan, Sara.

SIDNER: I have to be honest with you, Kyung. It was hard for me to pay attention, yes, because I was worried about it dripping. But I see you took care of it. That's what I'm talking about.

That's our Kyung Lah with her team out there in the Le Mars, Iowa, for us.

Thank you so much.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Forget Mike Pence. What are the flavors, Kyung?

(CROSSTALK)

SIDNER: There's blue. There's some...

LAH: Oh. No, no, no. This is Scooper Hero at the bottom here that's dripping, but my favorite, mint chocolate chip.

SIDNER: I'm with you. It's good.

BOLDUAN: Girl after my own heart.

SIDNER: I mean, you know?

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: All right, well, at least Kyung is having fun. Oh, my God, it really does look good.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Anyway, moving on back to politics, no fun.

Pence is not only -- not the only candidate making a push to connect in the early primary states and early voting states, Republican hopefuls, as we have seen, flooding both Iowa and New Hampshire today and yesterday, Donald Trump, as was just pointed out, not hitting the trail on July 4.

Joining us right now for more on this is "USA Today" White House correspondent Francesca Chambers and Republican strategist Doug Heye.

Your favorite flavor in Iowa, Doug, go.

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, if we're talking about Le Mars, Iowa, I talk about the Benny, which is a huge steak at a restaurant called Archie's Waeside in Le Mars.

I'm sure that's Kyung's next stop. And when you talk about meet-and- greet in Iowa for breakfast, you're spelling that M-E-A-T. That's for sure.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: That's accurate. And you can say that also in Indiana too.

Francesca, back to the real business at hand. But this is serious business. This is how you connect with voters. This is how -- this -- you kiss babies. You shake hands. We're back to typical politics, if one can even believe it, maybe just for a moment.

Francesca, what do you think of how Mike Pence is doing so far? Do you think there's enough evangelical Christians in Iowa to push him past Donald Trump?

FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, "USA TODAY": Well, candidates will have another opportunity in Iowa around the time of the Iowa State Fair, which is another great time for them to engage in those retail politics.

They often go to the pork chop stand. So I'm sure that we will be seeing more of this as the summer progresses. As far as Mike Pence himself, it's very clear how big Iowa is in his strategy, given that he chose to spend the Fourth of July there, when some of his other competitors went to New Hampshire instead.

It's a state that he's targeting, as you pointed out, because of those evangelicals. But he clearly has some work to do there. Given that is part of a linchpin of his strategy, he still trails former President Donald Trump. He also trails Ron DeSantis in the state. And he's taking heavy competition in Iowa from Tim Scott, as well as Nikki Haley.

BOLDUAN: The fact that -- the fact, Doug, that Trump just continues to lead the pack, as we well know, he's -- what, is he double digits ahead of Ron DeSantis? And something really stuck out to me this week with regard to that competition.

[11:25:00]

A spokesman for a DeSantis super PAC even acknowledged that they have got a ways to go. Listen to this.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

STEVE CORTES, SPOKESMAN, NEVER BACK DOWN SUPER PAC: Look, right now, in national polling, we are way behind. I will be the first to admit that, OK? I believe in being really blunt and really honest. It's an uphill battle.

I don't think it's an unwinnable battle by any stretch, OK, but, clearly, Donald Trump is the -- is the runaway front-runner.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: What do you think of that approach, Doug?

HEYE: Well, look, I'm all for honesty and letting people peek behind the curtain. I don't know that I would say that Donald Trump is the runaway leader at this point, because that suggests that he's going to run away with it.

But it highlights the work that DeSantis has to do, that Pence, Tim Scott, and Nikki Haley have to do, and why Iowa is so important, not just because of the large evangelical community, but Iowa is a state that requires a deep network in all 99 counties and requires a lot of presence and work.

It's why you're seeing those candidates there, and not just in places like Des Moines, where you expect them to go, but they're going to get a Winterset, Iowa, where John Wayne's birthplace is. You could see Tim Scott or Nikki Haley do an event there. They're going to go to Emmetsburg.

All these small communities expect to see you there. And what we're talking about right now with July 4, we will be talking about in Iowa in just a few weeks, when we have the state fair, where every Republican candidate should make not just an appearance there, but spend a lot of time there talking to voters.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And, Francesca, there are 12 Republicans now in the -- in -- now

running. The most recent to join was former Congressman Will Hurd. He was on the show.

And I asked him the question that really -- that still remains -- it's an unknown, but it's important for all of these candidates to answer, which is, the Republican field, a wide Republican field in 2016, worked to the benefit of Donald Trump. And I asked him how it's going to be different this time around. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FMR. REP. WILL HURD (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In 2016, Donald Trump started at 1 percent. And he was talking about making America great again, and people thought he was exciting.

Now they think he's boring. He's talking about the same thing. He's talking about the past. He's not talking about the future. It's like, do we have to accept this crummy fate and do nothing to try to solve that problem? The answer is no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Francesca, what do you think of that?

CHAMBERS: I don't think that you're going to see any of those candidates drop out or start thinking about consolidating until after we get past that first debate on August 23.

Many of these campaigns and candidates think that their person is going to get on the stage, and they're going to have that big moment that will maybe help them pull ahead in the field. When you talk to folks like Chris Sununu, the governor of New Hampshire, who decided to pass on the race, he told me when he decided to do that, that he could end up endorsing down the line in order to help thin the pack out.

And, also, he also said that, at some point down the line after that first week, he would think that some of these folks would end up dropping out.

BOLDUAN: It's a good point, and definitely one of many key moments we need to watch coming up very soon.

It's good to see you guys. Francesca, great to see you. Thank you, Doug -- John.

BERMAN: All right, Ukraine says it can see devices that look like explosives on two nuclear reactors. A U.N. watchdog is now investigating.

And we are told he has been wearing ceremonial robes, as one does, also crown jewels that were misplaced for decades, as they often are. King Charles celebrates a new step in his coronation, but this one has come with some protests.

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