Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

National Guard in New York Subways; Tom Perez is Interviewed about Biden's Speech Tonight; Armorer Found Guilty. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired March 07, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And which are dead.

What is your sense and what are you hearing but how real the negotiations are here for hostages and cease fire?

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): Well, they're very real. I know that our diplomats are engaged. The Qataris that have influence over Hamas are engage. Israel. You know, Israel will say, look, we'll have a cease before Ramadan if you release the hostages. From what I understand, they're not willing to do that.

And so now Israel is saying, well, OK, fine, we're going to continue with eradicating Hamas through the Ramadan season. And so it's really up to Hamas. It's in their court. I mean they can either, you know, give - you know, give back the hostages and at which time we'll have a ceasefire, or not. And so I think it's their decision to make. I think Israel has every right to get the hostages back.

BOLDUAN: Yes, it's not moving fast enough for a lot of people, and that's for sure.

Let me ask you about tonight while I have you.

MCCAUL: Yes.

BOLDUAN: At the State of the Union you're bringing Christy Shamblin. She's the mother-in-law of Marine Sergeant Nicole Gee. She's one of the American service members who was killed during the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which you have been investigating.

MCCAUL: Yes.

BOLDUAN: And today you're actually moving forward within the committee with possibly holding the secretary of state, Tony Blinken, in contempt for withholding documents related to the withdrawal. I want to ask you about that because Greg Meeks, the ranking Democrat, he's calling this move a stunt and saying that you all are picking a process fight because you don't have the evidence to help your case in your investigation what is the question you think remains unanswered about the withdrawal that's driving this investigation still?

MCCAUL: Well, I have a lot of respect for Greg. He's a friend of mine. That's political rhetoric. I - look, this is not about, you know, getting heads, you know. This is about getting to the truth. All we want for the families of the 13 service men and women who were killed at Abbey Gate and, quite frankly, the Afghans who were killed and the Americans left behind and our Afghan partners left behind in the chaos in Afghanistan during that evacuation, we just want the truth.

That's why General Milley, you know, the former chairman of Joint Chiefs, and CENTCOM Commander McKenzie, are - they're going to testify before my committee next week because we want to get answers to what happened. How did this go so badly? And, you know, most importantly, Kate, how can we fix the problem so this never happens again? That's my goal. My goal is not to get scalped. My goal - it - I do want to hold people accountable and I do want to get to the truth. And I think the American people deserve that, our veterans of Afghanistan deserve that, and the families darn sure deserve that.

BOLDUAN: No matter what, it is -- it is definitely a kind gesture to have the -- have one of the Marines who were killed, to have her mother-in-law there with you. It's very kind.

MCCAUL: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Congressman, Mr. Chairman, thank you for your time.

MCCAUL: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The controversial new plan to address crime on the subway, send in the National Guard.

And a really, really bad kind of streak this morning. The planet just shattered a heat record for the ninth month in a row.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:38:16]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The National Guard is going to be a part of an increased law enforcement presence on the New York City subway. More than 1,000 officers from New York state police and the MTA and the National Guard will work together to fight crime there. Governor Kathy Hochul bringing in the additional personnel after a 13 percent increase in major crimes on the subway since last year. According to the NYPD, 2023 had the highest number of subway assaults since at least 1996.

CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller is joining us now.

OK, so the National Guard shows up -- a highly unusual situation -- in the New York subway. What can they do? Are they there as a presence or can they actually do some effective law enforcement if - if they're called?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, they're there as a visible deterrent. Here are government people in Army uniform with, you know, machine guns, but that's about all they can do. They'll do the bag checks. Now, why are the bag checks useful? They may come up with a gun in a bag, a knife in a bag, for someone who wasn't expecting to get caught at a bag check, but most of the crooks I know don't carry their gun or their knife in their bag. So, that will be useful. But they're not going to be able to chase criminals. They're not going to be making arrests. If somebody runs up to them and said, I just got robbed and he went that way, they're probably not going to chase him because if they catch him they don't know what to do and they don't really know the system.

So, a lot of this is the scarecrow effect. But it might make some people feel better and make some people feel apprehensive seeing soldiers in the subway.

SIDNER: Right. You're seeing these sort of -- like the Army has come in with their guns and you're wondering what the heck is going on.

MILLER: It's like one of those movies.

SIDNER: Yes, exactly. Like what happened for this to occur. If you haven't been keeping up with all that's been going on.

[09:40:03]

I'm curious what the NYPD thinks of the National Guard coming in, because as you say, if they cannot do any effective law enforcement, they are just a deterrent, then the people that they will have to call is the NYPD, correct?

MILLER: Right. So, there is perception and there's reality. But you know, perception is reality if you're a subway rider.

SIDNER: Right.

MILLER: IF you don't feel safe, you're not safe. Crime is actually lower than it was before the pandemic. The grand larceny numbers, that's somebody has taken somebody's phone or stealing a sleeping passenger's wallet out of a bag, that's up, I think, 13 percent.

SIDNER: Right.

MILLER: But the percentages sound like crime is up. The numbers are actually very small. Youve got a system with 3 million people in it.

SIDNER: Right, who riding every day.

MILLER: And the crimes are in the hundreds, not the thousands. If there was a city of 3 million that had these crime numbers, they'd be one of the safest cities in the country. It's the disorder. It's the guy sitting next to you on the train smoking weed or a cigarette right there in the car.

SIDNER: From legality (ph) -

MILLER: It's the unhinged person screaming at the end of the platform. It's the half-dressed person sleeping on the -- on the station. It makes people feel like no one's in control here. And that's a different -

SIDNER: It makes me feel really uneasy.

MILLER: Yes.

SIDNER: And they wonder what is going to happen because of some of the -

MILLER: Make them feel not safe.

SIDNER: Right. And some of the stories that have come out where people have done something and then it's turned really, really bad. So, it's just a question of whether or not you, like you said, feel safe on the subway.

MILLER: Right. And the number of transit authority employees who are not cops who are being assaulted because they're saying, you can't do that or you can stay there or that's against the rules -

SIDNER: Right.

MILLER: Who are getting punched or slashed. Each one of those becomes a newspaper story. People see that too.

SIDNER: John Miller, this will be interesting. We'll be watching this. I know you will be. Thank you. Appreciate it.

MILLER: Thanks.

SIDNER: Kate.

BOLDUAN: Advisers to President Biden say you can expect him to be passionate, fiery, and energized tonight as he delivers his final State of the Union Address before the presidential election. So, what tonight means for his re-election campaign.

And cancer causing chemicals found in products that are supposed to treat acne. Why these findings have people now asking for a recall.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:46:35]

SIDNER: Happening right now, opening statements are underway in Michigan as jurors consider whether or not the father of the shooter at Oxford High School well be charged with involuntary manslaughter or will be convicted. This was the prosecuting attorney just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELI SAVIT, PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: You will learn throughout this trial that he was the adult out of anyone in the world in the best position to prevent these kids' deaths. You're going to learn that those kids would still be alive today had James Crumbley seized any one of the tragically small and easy opportunities given to him to prevent his son from committing murder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Of the many bits of evidence that will be presented, the safety lock that was sold with a nine millimeter handgun used that day in Michigan, still in the same sealed plastic bag it came in. Defense attorneys will take the stand next.

BERMAN: Passion, ferocity and a fighting attitude. That is what two dozen of President Biden's allies tell CNN they want to see from the president tonight as he gives what could be the most important speech that he will give ahead of the November election, the State of the Union Address. The president's team says that is exactly what the audience will get. They are teasing a, quote, "very energized president."

With us now is former DNC chair and former labor secretary, Tom Perez.

Secretary, thank you so much for being with us.

TOM PEREZ, FORMER DNC CHAIR AND SENIOR ADVISOR AND ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT: A pleasure.

BERMAN: What kind of energy do you want to see from the president tonight?

Oh, I think you'll see a lot of energy from the president. Again, I'll remind you, John, last year, in real time, he schooled the Republicans who were talking about Medicare and Social Security and made sure they committed to taking that off the table. That's the kind of energy you saw last year. That's the kind of energy I see every day when I'm working with the president. And that's what you'll see tonight, a president who's going to talk about, you know, where we were in 2021, how far we've come, and the unfinished business.

Why is it that you think though that there are so many -- and these are allies, these are Democrats, who specifically say they feel like they need to see an energized president tonight.

PEREZ: Well, I think what the American people want to see is, we want to hear about what has happened under your watch and what will happen in the years ahead. That's what they're going to see. And you're going to see a president who's going to -- with great pride talk about how we have united the world in the aftermath of Ukraine, how we have now two years in a row of unemployment under 4 percent, which is -- we haven't seen in 50 years, how we now have people who have diabetes are paying $35 a month because we've finally, successfully taken on the pharmaceutical industry. And the president's going to talk about, you know, frankly, the contrast between these two candidates.

The president wants to unite our nation. We believe that Putin is a threat. The former president believes that Putin ought to do whatever the hell he wants. That's a quote. Our president believes that health care is a right for all, and not a privilege for a few. And the former president wants to do away with Obamacare again. Our president wants to make sure that we protect our freedoms, including, but not limited to, a woman's right to choose. And the former president brags about doing away with Roe versus Wade. You know, these - you couldn't get more contrast. Our president wants to protect democracy and the former president was involved in an insurrection.

[09:50:03]

And so, you know, the American people have a very clear choice. We've made a lot of progress. The former president talked about infrastructure weeks, and the president, Biden, has delivered on infrastructure in a way that's unprecedented since Eisenhower was president. So, we have a lot to talk about, both the progress, but also the unfinished business, lowering costs, making sure that we continue to protect freedoms, making sure that we address our climate crisis. And the president will talk about those things. And I think those are front and center for the American people.

BERMAN: You just spoke a lot for about a minute and a half about the former president, Donald Trump. Will the former president be a subject of the State of the Union Address tonight?

PEREZ: Well, I mean, I think what you're going to see tonight is the contrast. I mean and -- there are so many clear examples of the contrast. The president will -

BERMAN: Explicit - explicit - explicitly? Will President Biden bring up the former president?

PEREZ: Yes, I think it will be very - I think the president - you - I think you'll see tonight that there will be an explicit contrast between President Biden articulating what we want to do. We know that NATO had our back post 9/11, and we will have their back in this moment in time where Putin is threatening not only Ukraine, but others in eastern Europe. And that contrast between what President Biden has done and what President Trump wants to do, letting Putin do whatever the hell he wants, quote/unquote, is a huge contrast that people need to understand.

You know, IVF is something that is another example of, you know, our president wants to protect freedoms, President Biden, and, again, President Trump bragged about doing away with those -- woman's right to choose.

BERMAN: What -

PEREZ: He campaigned on it.

BERMAN: What kind of audience -

PEREZ: That's - those are facts.

BERMAN: What kind of audience, and by that I mean literally the audience in the House chamber, are you expecting tonight? What kind of reaction from the Republicans? How is President Biden prepared to face the Republicans?

PEREZ: Oh, the president -- the president spent the weekend in Camp David. There has been literally weeks of preparation. He's ready and he's excited to articulate to the American people what he has done, where we were, where we are and where we need to go. And that's what he's going to talk about.

And if the Republicans, you know, want to do again this year what they did last year, the president will be ready for that, as he was last year. I mean I - I really think he kind of schooled them when they tried to attack him on Medicare and Social Security. And they negotiated seemingly in real time that Republicans were going to take it off the table, which is what - wasn't what they said previously.

BERMAN: Yes.

PEREZ: But the president in real time got them to agree to that. So, the president is quick on his feet and he will be ready for whatever happens tonight. He's most excited about talking directly to the American people about -

BERMAN: Thank you.

PEREZ: Where we need to go because we need to lower costs. We need to expand access to affordable prescription drugs. We need to be a great ally in the conflict in Ukraine. We need to forge an enduring peace in the Middle East. And the president's going to talk about all these things.

BERMAN: Mr. Secretary, Tom Perez, thanks so much for being with us. Nice to see you.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: The armorer on the "Rust" movie set, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, she was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Now the focus turns to how long she could spend behind bars and what this means for the charges that Alec Baldwin faces.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:58:14]

SIDNER: Sentencing expected next month for the now convicted armor on Alec Baldwin's movie "Rust" after a Santa Fe jury found Hannah Gutierrez Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

CNN's Natasha Chen is joining me now.

I know this case is being watched by the industry very closely. And the public as well. What's next?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, yes, this does have big implications for the movie industry to see the armorer on set convicted here. The prosecutor emphasized she didn't do her job in checking all the prep weapons to make sure they were safe, resulting in six live rounds somehow making it onto the set. Now the jury found her guilty of involuntary manslaughter, but not guilty on a separate charge of tampering with evidence.

Now, the manslaughter conviction, it could land her up to 18 months in prison and up to a $5,000 fine. It only took the jury about two-and-a- half hours to come to that conclusion. Here's one of the jurors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERTO SANCHEZ, JUROR: I think it was fair. Yes. And if he -- someone died. I mean, you've got to take responsibility, especially when you're handling weapons and you're in charge of those. That's - that's your job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: The attorney for Hannah Gutierrez Reed said in his closing statement that justice for the cinematographer who died, Halyna Hutchins, is not injustice for Hannah Gutierrez Reed. He said the negligence was from the top-down, that the whole production was chaotic and unsafe.

Now, the prosecutors say, yes, there was negligence all around, but in her case they say that she failed to do her job, resulting in someone else's death. And that act, they say, was willful. And the jury seemed to agree.

Now, Alec Baldwin, you mentioned him. He's also charged with involuntary manslaughter. He's expected to stand trial in July. And he has maintained up to this point that he did not pull that trigger.

[10:00:03]

Sara?

SIDNER: Natasha Chen, thank you so much for that reporting. Everybody, we're watching to see what happens in Alec Baldwin's case. That is the next one up.

BERMAN: The jury, though, said the distinction here may be that it was her job, the armorer's specific job to look at the gun. We'll see if that comes into play here.

Thank you all so much, for joining all three of us together --

BOLDUAN: We're finally back.

BERMAN: -- for CNN News Central.

CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta, up next.