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Protests Break Out In Israel Drastically Reshapes Power Of Courts; DOJ Deadline Today For TX To Commit To Removing Border Barrier; DeSantis Revamps Campaign Strategy Amid Spending Concerns. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired July 24, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:48]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we do have breaking news, history making protests in Israel as that country faces a turning point in the middle of a critical few hours and we are on the ground.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Texas Governor Greg Abbott has just hours to commit to removing a 1,000 foot floating barrier on the Rio Grande River or face federal legal action. We have a live report just ahead.

BERMAN: Investigators using dog's radar and a backhoe as a search for new evidence at the alleged Gilgo Beach murder suspect's home. Kate and Sara are off today. I'm John Berman with Rahel Solomon. This is CNN News Central.

We do have breaking news, history making news actually. In Israel, protests have erupted in the streets after the Israeli Knesset passed part of a controversial new bill aimed at dramatically shaping the power of the courts dramatically restricting the power of the courts.

Opponents of the plant say it threatens to turn Israel into a dictatorship. Supporters claim the reforms are necessary to rebalance powers between the branches of government. Let's get right to CNN's Hadas Gold who is in Jerusalem in the middle of what has been an energetic scene to say the least, Hadas.

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, lots of action here. So in the in the minutes that legislation passed, the Israeli parliament 64 to zero actually, because the opposition lawmakers walked off the floor in protest. The crowd here really erupted. They erupted in booze. They erupted in chants of shame.

Now they are gathered around a stage just behind me, we're just outside of the Supreme Court. Of course, this is what all of this fight is about. Various speakers talking and trying to courage the crowd telling them, we will not give up. Some of them even declaring that this is the beginning of a war, telling everybody to not leave the streets to come out to the streets now and show the government that this is not the end. This is only the beginning of their fight.

What we've seen in the immediate aftermath of this is the coalition government led by Benjamin Netanyahu celebrating this way, because this is the first legislation, as part of this massive judicial overhaul to finally pass. Currently, it doesn't mean will necessarily become law at this moment. But it's an important step for this coalition government that says it will continue to push forward this legislation.

But we already had the first legal challenge against this. It has already been filed in front of the Supreme Court asking for an injunction, asking the Supreme Court to stop this. And that could lead to a pretty interesting legal fight because this legislation is trying to take away the Supreme Court's ability to stop certain government actions by declaring them were unreasonable.

So they might have to sort of roll on their own reasonability whether they are on their own power, whether they can still declare something unreasonable, or whether the law itself is unreasonable. Now, that's still in the future, we have to see whether the Supreme Court will issue an injunction.

In the meantime, stock market is falling just around 2 percent, the shekel has also fall against the dollar around 1 percent. A major -- the biggest labor union in Israel then if they just declare a strike essentially shut down the entire country is now debating calling for a strike. And there's a major question about those thousands of Israeli military reservists including elite Air Force pilots who have said that they will not serve, they will not heed the call to serve if this legislation passes.

The legislation has now passed. So that's a major question. A major task for them of course, if there's a major conflict, whether they will be called up and also if they will be arrested. We have yet to hear also from the White House. President Joe Biden, just last night, issuing another statement encouraging Israeli leaders to take a step back, slow things down. Obviously, he was not listened to. This has now passed. Now, a major moment in Israeli politics. And I expect we will see a major clash as well. John?

BERMAN: And Hadas, and again, our audience seems to bear with us because it's so chaotic behind you. The connection isn't great, but we have heard every word you said and we're really hanging on them. The stakes here are so high for opponents of this bill because in essence, it's about more than judicial reform. This is about the character they say of Israel, explain that.

[10:04:59]

GOLD: Yes, John. And that's because in the -- how the Israeli government Israeli politics is set up, it's a different than once in the United States because it's a parliamentary system so whatever purchasing power, whatever party controls, the coalition also controls the government.

And so the only check on power really is the Supreme Court, you can come in and say, hey, you can't, that law is not legal, that law is not reasonable, it cannot pass. And that so many of these protesters are so worried that this will so dramatically shake up the makeup of the judiciary, their power.

And not only their power, there's other legislation in the pipeline that will change how judges are selected, will change how legal advisors in the government agencies can -- what kind of power they can have. This is the biggest changes to Israel's judiciary since this country was founded 75 years ago, guys. And again, opponents have a right now worry that if that happens with the current government, which they see as the most conservative or they say radical in Israel's history, that is why they're concerned truly is.

Hadas Gold, stay safe. Thank you so much. Please keep us posted. Rahel?

SOLOMON: All right, John, this morning time is running out for Texas Governor Greg Abbott to avoid legal action from the Justice Department. The DOJ is demanding Texas commit to removing a floating razor wire barrier. And the department and the deadline to begin negotiations is 2:00 p.m. Eastern today.

The controversy center was on a 1,000 foot barrier on the Rio Grande River near Eagle Pass. Texas put it there to deter illegal crossings. Last month alone, border officials encountered more than 24,000 migrants in the region. But government officials also argued that the barrier raises humanitarian concerns. I want to bring in CNN's Priscilla Alvarez. She leads us off this hour live from the White House. Priscilla, good morning to you. I think the question a lot of people have is, will the DOJ be suing Texas?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: They are on track to do that if Texas doesn't respond by this afternoon to tell them that they are going to remove those floating barriers. And up until this point, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has dug in and saying that he has the right and it is his sovereignty to do what he's doing along the border.

But the big picture here is that this is a feud that has been ongoing between President Biden and Texas Governor Greg Abbott over the handling of the U.S.-Mexico border. And by the Justice Department sending this letter late last week, it really escalated the feud and took it one step further with the administration now weighing in on this and saying that Texas doesn't have the authorization to put up these floating barriers and they're citing a clause in the law to that effect.

For again, the reasons you mentioned humanitarian concern, safety for migrants and for agents, as well as environmental concerns. Now in a statement to CNN, a White House spokesperson said the following, they said Governor Abbott's dangerous and unlawful actions are undermining our effective border enforcement plan and making it harder for CBP to do their jobs of securing the border. It goes on to say the governor's actions are cruel and putting both migrants and border agents in dangers.

And I have talked to officials on the ground as well as here in Washington who have grown increasingly concerned as to what they were seeing along the border because it did pose a danger to migrants and to the agents working on the ground. These are agents that have historically worked well with Texas troopers and with the state of Texas, in enforcing the border.

But there is now more disparity between the two and it is causing more challenges for the agents especially when they're trying to make apprehensions or reach a group of migrants who may have crossed the river. To the point that officials have started to send more regular reports here to Washington, D.C. about what they're seeing on the Texas Mexico border. So all of this culminating in that potential legal action happening after 2:00 p.m. today.

SOLOMON: A little less than four hours from now. Priscilla Alvarez live for us at the White House. Priscilla, thank you. John?

BERMAN: All right, just in Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is revamping his presidential campaign after struggling to gain traction two months into the candidacy. That is according to his own team. CNN has just confirmed reporting that was in "The New York Times" and "Politico." According to "The Times," quote, his advisers are promising to reorient the DeSantis candidacy as an insurgent run and remake it into a leaner-meaner operation, days after the first public glimpse into his political finances showed unsustainable levels of spending.

With us now, Republican strategist and former RNC communications director, Doug Heye. Sir, when a campaign says we are revamping, we're going to do this all differently, what does that tell you?

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, it tells you that they have some structural problems that need addressing. And those structural problems ultimately then get seen in the polls. And we should remember, it's still very early in this process. You know, Ron DeSantis has only been a candidate for a little while. I'd say he came into this process overhyped. He was seen as the Trump Slayer and because Trump hasn't been slayed, somehow that's a letdown.

We have a long way to go here. But DeSantis has some issues that he needs to address. His campaigns addressing them. And he still has a large network in the States, certainly in Iowa where I think his fortunes are most important. He has teams in all 99 counties that's going to be very important for him moving forward.

[10:10:05]

BERMAN: Look, I have seen campaigns firsthand that did this revamp or shed staff and were able to write the ship. John McCain, like laid off everybody that worked for him practically in 2008, and was able to win the nomination. But it doesn't always work. And it usually is a sign of problems. What does this specifically say about Ron DeSantis?

HEYE: Well, I think it says that what was put together was a massive organization that I think they thought he might get more funding initially than it did. It also represents there's a split between the campaign and the Super PAC, which is true of DeSantis in any other campaign. But I think we also have another dynamic happening here, John, that that's sort of interesting.

You know, yesterday, was the last stage of the Tour de France. And what do we typically see in that? There's one leader, followed by the peloton, everybody else who's running to ultimately win that race. And what we've seen is in the peloton in the Republican primaries, Ron DeSantis, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, and so many others, is that they're not really trying to take the leader, Donald Trump, they're not talking about Donald Trump all day, every day, they're not going after him.

And ultimately, they're vying right now for who might be in second place. Now, I'd still rather be DeSantis than anybody else. He still has the best finance and he still is second polling and including in the States, although Tim Scott's doing a lot better in the polls, and again, specifically in states. You can disregard national polling.

But ultimately, all of these candidates should learn from "Star Wars," which is, Luke Skywalker eventually had to confront Darth Vader. He didn't sit back and depend on the force or Han Solo to do it for him. And once we get into these debates, this is going to be that primetime opportunity for those candidates to do so.

BERMAN: We can debate the prudence of Luke going after Vader in "Empire Strikes Back" because clearly both Obi-Wan and Yoda thought it was hasty and too soon, and he did not do well in that first confrontation.

HEYE: All worked in the end.

BERMAN: That's for another time, Doug. Listen, when it comes to Ron DeSantis, there are the structural issues, right? Did you spend too much money? Did you have too much staff? Did you focus on states you shouldn't have. But then there's the issue of Ron DeSantis being Ron DeSantis. In the campaign doing things deliberately, at least according to "The New York Times," it turns out that that video that many people looked at as either homophobic or homoerotic, or both the one that criticized Donald Trump for being too friendly toward LGBTQ rights, but also included pictures of greased up body builders.

"The New York Times" reports, quote, it was it turns out to be more of a self-inflicted wound that was previously known. A DeSantis campaign aide had originally produced the video internally, passing it off to an outside supporter to post it first and making it appear as if it was generated independently, according to a person with knowledge of that incident. So if it was the campaign, that did it, or someone within the campaign that did it, it does tell you it's an idea, at least, that they were supportive of. What does that tell you about where he's trying to position himself?

HEYE: Well, the first thing I want to know is more about that story to learn, how much of the food and chain of command did this go in the campaign? Was this a low level tech staffer that tried to do something that they thought was clever or cute and certainly backfired on them? Or was this known by higher ups?

So often what I see in political communications these days, you see it every day on Capitol Hill, you see it every day on Twitter, or X or whatever we're going to call it at this point, are really amateur hour communications. And it seems so often that the adults weren't in charge. I doubt that Ron DeSantis knew about this specific video. But it certainly suggests that there's something about the culture in the campaign that as they're changing structural things in the campaign as they should, that this is a direction where he should look at.

BERMAN: Doug Heye, may the force be with you. Great to see you my friend.

HEYE: Always, thank you. Rahel?

SOLOMON: Well done, John Berman. Well, coming up, authorities are digging up the backyard of the Gilgo Beach murder suspect, what they found so far.

Plus new body camera footage showing the moment, an Ohio officer unleashes a dog on an unarmed suspect who had his hands up and was surrendering.

[10:14:07]

And we were also learning that the DOJ is Office has reached out to Georgia's Governor over the former President Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, the impact it could have on the special counsel's investigation ahead.

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BERMAN: In Ohio, an investigation is underway after an unarmed black man was attacked by a police dog even after he surrendered with his hands up in the air. The incident happened on the 4th of July after an attempted traffic stop turned into a police pursuit. It was all caught on body camera video. The Columbus Ohio NAACP is now calling for the officer involved to be fired.

In Missouri, eight people were injured when a boat crashed into a hole near the Lake of the Ozarks. Police say the boat ran aground before slamming into the home, ejecting all eight people on board. The driver was cited for boating while intoxicated.

President Biden honoring Emmett Till and his mother with a national monument this week. The black teenager's brutal, racially motivated murder help sparked the Civil Rights Movement beginning in the 1950s. The Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument will be centered in Illinois and Mississippi. The states were Till was from and also was killed. Biden will make the official designation tomorrow on what would have been Emmett Till's 82nd birthday. Rahel?

SOLOMON: All right, John, thank you. Investigators believed that the search of the home of suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann will last another two or three days. Search crews have been using a police canine and a ground penetrating radar machine. Heuermann is charged with killing three of the four women whose remains were found along the stretch of Long Island's Gilgo Beach in 2010.

[10:20:08]

This morning, the Suffolk County Sheriff told CNN that Heuermann was stoic during their meeting. Joining us now to discuss is CNN's chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller. John, great to have you. So let's start there. I mean, one of the newest things that we have learned is what investigators are doing and using at the suspects home, the backhoe, the ground penetrating radar machine, the police dogs, what are they looking for? I mean when you hear that, what does that signal to you?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: What they're looking for is, ground penetrating radar to see is there any anomalies underground? Could that be human remains, skeletal remains? Is there a disturbance in the earth where there are shadows showing up down there that are not normal for that terrain? Because if they believe there are bodies buried there, they will dig up the entire yard.

They can also do things like methane probes where you, you know, pull gases up from underground to see if there are signs of decomposition or human remains. But they're literally in a position to leave no one stone, you know, no stone unturned.

SOLOMON: Does it mean the fact that they are digging up this backyard that something led them there? Or is this a normal part of an investigation because they believe the working theory is that these murders may have been committed in his home. Is this sort of a normal sort of operating part of investigating a home or does it make you think that maybe something led them there?

MILLER: Well, the ground penetrating radar, the methane probes all of that is to figure out, you know, if you're going to dig where to dig, or certainly where to start. But when you have an offender involved in multiple murders, who is burying bodies at one location, you have to eliminate the possibility that is burying bodies at other locations. And that could not just be Long Island that could be down south where he has property. It could be upstate where he has access to hunting cabins that he's used. So there's going to, we're really at the beginning of this case, not at the end.

SOLOMON: Yes, I mean, we heard the sheriff this morning on CNN this morning, say it is a multijurisdictional search. I want to talk about that interview. He also said that in his interactions with the suspect, the suspect was stoic. But he also said that he seemed to be comfortable in his cell. I mean, does that surprise you? Or does it fit the profile?

MILLER: Well, I think his first reaction during the intake interview, which is you know, do you have any questions for us is, you understand what you're charged with? And what this is all about? Is it in the news, not, I didn't do this, these charges are crazy. And you know, he slept very well on the first night, which is, you know, a sign of someone who's resigned to their fate.

But I think if you look at where they are, in the case, they're literally drowning in clues. They did the house in a very systematic way, basement first, first floor, second floor. What they have left to do is really to go through the attic, and then move to the garage, and then assess what part of the ground to dig in, if at all, and so on. SOLOMON: Yes. And, John, tell me more about that. I mean, what are you hearing from your sources, your law enforcement sources about where this investigation stands? And what's next beyond the aggregate in that sort of thing?

MILLER: So a lot, I mean, not just from what we talked about in terms of fanning out to other locations, but the inventory of what they take from the house. Those are the clues, but they're not evidence until they make that next step. So a lot of that is going to the County Medical Examiner and the lab where they're going to search for victim DNA, not just the four victims that they have that they believe are tied to him including the three he's charged with.

But there's six other victims who were buried along that roadway that they're going to want to see is their property that is connected to them. If they can't get DNA, is there a relative who can say that article of clothing or that bracelet or that watch or ring belong to my sister, my daughter, so, so much ground to cover.

SOLOMON: A lot more to come here. John Miller, thanks so much for being with us. John?

BERMAN: All right, Russian attacks against Ukraine moving closer and closer to NATO borders, and now Ukraine tried to strike deeper and deeper into Russia itself.

[10:24:05]

The joking about election claims just days before January 6th, the new reporting on Mark Meadows and concerns that he could be a witness against Donald Trump.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. Overnight, Russia target at Ukraine's grain supply on the Danube River. Forces carried out an hours long drone attack on a critical port where some of Ukraine's grain is stored, damaging a hanger and coming the closest to NATO territory since the war started.

This attack comes just days after the Kremlin pulled out of a crucial deal that allowed Ukraine to safely export its wheat to international markets. CNN's Nic Robertson is following this for us. So Nick, what is the latest there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, one of the outfalls of this already is that the price of wheat that would be sold at -- in Chicago market in September. The price of wheat for sale then has already jumped six percentage points. So this shows you the level of international concern and the concern as well that the port facility that was hit is on the Danube River.

[10:29:49]

One side of that Danube River is Ukraine. The river itself is a couple of 100, 400 meters, 400 yards wide. The other side of the river is Romania. Romania is a NATO nation. If those drones had missed their intended target and landed a few 100 meters on the other side of the river.