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Texas Still Without Power; Lisa Bonner is Interviewed about the Combs Apology; ICC Seek Arrest Warrants for Hamas and Israeli Leaders; Norman Roule is Interviewed about the Death of Iran's President; Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired May 20, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: From the White House, from the State Department, all of the above, Kylie's there. She'll be bringing it to us.

Thank you so much, Kylie.

Still ahead for us, the Dali cargo ship is now on the move 55 days after it crashed into Baltimore's Key Bridge. A crash that killed six people. We'll have more, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Moments ago a U.K. court has ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has the right to appeal his extradition to the U.S. A win for Assange. The ruling allowed Assange to make a final challenge to his extradition and is the latest development in a years-long legal battle. Assange is wanted by U.S. authorities on espionage charges connected to his organization's publication of thousands of classified documents and diplomatic cables in 2010 and 2011.

[08:35:06]

He faces life in prison if he is convicted on those charges here in the United States.

All right, today, cargo ship Dali, which slammed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge eight weeks ago, is being refloated and towed, finally, to a marine terminal after controlled explosions freed it from the wreckage of that bridge, which was lying on top of it. The collision killed six people working on the bridge, collapsing the bridge, and forcing the port to close. With the ship's removal, officials expect to reopen the port finally, an economic juggernaut, by months end, restoring shipping and easing traffic congestions there.

And a wildfire in Arizona is burning out of control. It has more than doubled in size overnight. Fire officials say the Wildcat Fire has left more than 12,000 acres of the state's largest national forests scorched. It is 0 percent contained at moment, and firefighter say they're being hampered by more than weather, but by drone operators. Fire officials are pleading with drone operators to stop flying near the fire because the drones interfere with firefighter efforts from the sky and could cause midair collisions. Their message, if you fly, we can't.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So right now nearly 50 million people across the central plains are under threat of severe weather. Yesterday we saw - a tornado was seen near Oklahoma City. Take a look at this video. It's terrifying.

In Texas, more than 200,000 customers are still without power in the wake of last week's devastating storms. Record high temperatures are expected to hit Houston this week, just as people there are picking up the pieces from the wild hurricane force winds that caused serious damage and at least seven people were killed in those storms.

Rosa Flores is in Houston. She's following all of this.

Rosa, what's happening there now?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's still a very active scene, Kate. You can see that there is police tape behind me, big equipment. But I want to start with a skyline because that is why we are here.

You can see that some of these high-rise buildings look like checkerboards. The city of Houston has established what they call an exclusive zone. It's an area that's about six blocks wide where a lot of this glass crashed on the streets and the sidewalks and it's still too dangerous for people to transit through that area. According to the mayor of Houston, they are still trying to assess how many buildings were damaged in this area. Damage assessments are still ongoing. They're still trying to figure all of that out.

But one of the big problems is power outages. And before I talk about households being without power, I want to talk about traffic lights because if you've ever been to Houston, you know that our traffic here is a nightmare. And there's about 2,500 traffic lights in the city of Houston, about 400 of them are impacted, nearly 300 are without power. So, there are crews here in Houston from all across the state trying to restore these lights because it makes it a very dangerous situation when lights across this city are without power. So, city officials are urging people that if they don't have to be on these roadways, that they don't need to be on the roadways.

Now, here's the good news about power outages. At the height of this storm, there were nearly 1 million customers without power in this region. Right now, in Harris County, that number is about 200,000. And there's about 7,000 workers that are trying to restore power very quickly.

Now, here's the bad news. Take a look at the heat index. And if you have ever been in Houston in May, it is hot, it is muggy and you can see that heat index, 99 today and 100 and over for the rest of the week. And, Kate, that's the worry for city officials that are very concerned because it is hot, it is humid, and some people still don't have power, which means they don't have air conditioning.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

Rosa, thank you so much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs posted an apology video on Sunday. That was following the release of footage obtained by CNN that showed him mercilessly beating his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in the hallway of a hotel in 2016.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS, HIP HOP MOGUL: I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I'm disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it. I'm disgusted now.

I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm truly sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: The video is so disturbing. An attorney for Ventura responded to his apology, saying in part, quote, "Combs' most recent statement is more about himself than the many people he has hurt."

Entertainment attorney and former litigator Lisa Bonner is joining me now to discuss these developments.

[08:40:03]

I want to start with this. So, Sean Combs does this apology after first vehemently denying the allegations that were brought in a lawsuit. Then settling the lawsuit the next day and still failing to apologize. And now that the video is out, he's suddenly moved to apologize? Calculated, PR stunt or something his attorneys told him to do?

LISA BONNER, ENTERTAINMENT ATTORNEY: I can't imagine - first of all, good morning, Sara.

SIDNER: Good morning.

BONNER: I can't imagine that his attorneys told him to issue that faux-pology (ph) as I will call it. It did nothing to further his character. It did nothing to further his - any kind of evidence that he had spoken for. Actually, he - it shows that he actually lied and his attorneys lied.

So, I don't understand what that was for. He did not apologize to Cassie Ventura at all. So, that was more - it seemed like more of a self-serving type of situation to try and rehabilitate his image, which I think is partially beyond rehabilitation at this point. SIDNER: I do want to ask you, he - he knew that he couldn't be

prosecuted for this horrifying abuse because there is a statute of limitations in the area - or for this case. But could this potentially hurt him legally in several other cases that are being brought against him, including accusations of rape and sexual assault?

BONNER: Yes, this actually - the video actually has probative value because it can use - it can be used to show a pattern of abuse. Of several of his people that - several of the complaints that have been alleged against him do contain - excuse me, elements of domestic violence. And this is - clearly shows him beating Ms. Ventura. And it shows that he has the potential to do this. So, it certainly has probative value for other cases that are lined up against him. And it also could be used in sentencing.

So, the fact that it has been unearthed is certainly - does nothing for him in terms of any - it doesn't do any good for him irrespective of the fact that he cannot be prosecuted because of the statute of limitations.

SIDNER: So, in this case, that video is out. He now has the apology. Could those two things together, what would attorneys in the other cases be doing now, having seen the video, and now having seen the apology, what would be their move in their cases?

BONNER: Well, they would go and make sure that they are - excuse me, if they had some issues of domestic violence, and allegations of domestic violence that were outlined in there, they would be sure to, you know, beef those up to make sure that they tracked. They would - they could use it for any number of issues in terms of, you know, saying - proving that he lied, you know, because the - the apology is on his video - is on his Instagram feed, as is his denial.

So, you know, it doesn't do anything for - to show that he is truthful. In fact, it does the opposite. And it does - it just - it serves no purpose. And if I were his attorney, I would have told him not to speak. And he needs to hire a crisis PR firm. I'm surprised that that hasn't happened yet. Maybe it has, and maybe he just felt the need to issue that apology. I don't know. I'm - when I saw that yesterday, I was scratching my head. I don't understand it. It was disingenuous and it served him no purpose.

SIDNER: I don't think he ever named Cassie.

BONNER: No.

SIDNER: It was apologizing almost for the video itself being released.

His home was rated several weeks ago on potential sex trafficking charges, according to sources to CNN. That was a long time ago. Where do you see that going and why it is potentially taking so long for potential charges there?

BONNER: Well, you know, when you're building a case like this, you - it takes time. So, the fact that they had enough evidence to go in and get a - and obtain a search warrant, that shows that they had probable cause to get the search warrant to search his two homes. So, once they searched the two homes, they took an ordinate amount of video evidence, of cell phone evidence, other computers, electronic surveillance, everything. So, they need to comb through this evidence piece by piece, bit by bit, and build the case around Mr. Combs. This takes time.

I do believe that charges will be filed against him. Again, it takes time. I'm hearing that it's - possible RICO charges might be filed against him. So, I'm not surprised at all that this is taking some time. That was only a couple - two months ago. So, this - like I said, it does take time to build a case, to set forth complaints and allegations and specificity, which you need to do.

[08:45:03]

So, I suspect that charges will be forthcoming in the not-too-distant future.

SIDNER: Lisa Bonner, thank you so much for explaining all of that to us.

And I do want to let the audience know, you know, if you're someone who is a victim of domestic violence and you need help or you know someone who does, you can call the domestic violence hotline. The number, 800-799-SAFE. That's 800-799-7233.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Michael Cohen is about to head back on the stand. What's already been a brutal round of cross-examination is set to get back underway in minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: We are following breaking news from The Hague this morning. The International Criminal Court prosecutor telling CNN's Christiane Amanpour that they are requesting arrest warrants for the leaders of Hamas for the October 7th attack and for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense chief over the war in Gaza.

[08:50:05]

We are standing by to hear how the Biden administration will respond to this.

Joining me now, CNN's senior political commentator David Axelrod and former Trump administration official Matt Mowers.

Thank you both for being here.

I'm going to start - I'm going to start with you, David.

Biden has been hammered politically over his handling of the Israel- Hamas War by Democratic voters. And there's certainly a split. Now ICC prosecutors have proposed these serious charges that include Israel, a democratic country, that has never been done before, as well as Hamas' leadership. How does Biden handle this while already struggling with Democratic voters over the issue of the war?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, I think that some of the criticisms that the president has made, in the midst of supporting, he's being hammered for supporting Israel by Democratic voters, or some Democratic voters. The - in this case, there - there - it comes in the midst of a lot of criticism among members of his own war cabinet about the way the president is - the prime minister is handling this assault on Gaza, the war on Gaza, and planning for the post-war period. So, it just adds to his political burdens there.

And, you know, I think the president deserves some credit for raising issues that now are being widely debated, even in Israel. How he deals with this is something that I'm sure they're going to have to consider. I don't think he's going to embrace the ICC judgment about Prime Minister Netanyahu, but we shall see.

SIDNER: The Republicans have their plan of attack. They had already intimated that they were going to file sanctions against the ICC if they went forward with charges towards Israel. We're just now hearing Lindsey Graham says he will bring those sanctions. What can you tell us will be the response potentially from Donald Trump, knowing that you are hearing this from Republicans now?

MATT MOWERS, FORMER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, look you know, Donald Trump actually had an executive order put in place when he was in office that actually said they would section the ICC if certain - if they went after individuals, whether it's U.S. troops or even Israeli troops, allies who do not recognize the legitimacy of the ICC's rulings, which the U.S. and Israel don't. You saw Senator Cotton last year introduce a bill with Senator Rubio and Cruz on this exact same issue. And now you've seen them telegraphing those moves for several weeks, given the noise coming out of the ICC.

You're going to see President Trump take a strong stance, I would imagine, against the ICC and its potential claims to jurisdiction against the Israelis. And, you know, this is part and parcel, kind of the way that Donald Trump has always run his campaigns. So, you go back to 2016, he talked about the global order. This is exactly what he was talking about, this global international court system which is now claiming jurisdiction in nations that don't even recognize its legitimacy.

And so you're going to see him use this as another cajole against President Biden. He can talk about the fact that President Biden rescinded that executive order that Donald Trump put in place initially, and then also this kind of week language coming out about the ICC. I think President Biden politically is to take a pretty hard line against it, not just for politics, but also the policy, given the precedent it would set should the ICC be able to go after Netanyahu. It means it could potentially come after U.S. troops in a future incident as well.

SIDNER: You know, there's - there's quite a bit of chaos going on in the world, of course, about the war - AXELROD: Sara, let me - let me - let me -

SIDNER: Go ahead, David.

AXELROD: Oh - no. No, all I wanted to say is, I don't think that anybody should accept the equivalence between Netanyahu and Hamas, which is a terrorist organization and initiated this war with a barbaric attack on Israel. I think everybody's going to agree on that.

I think also President Trump was pretty outspoken not long ago about the need to end the war, to bring peace. So, you know, I think there's some agreement on that.

But there's no doubt that this has dropped in the middle of a political campaign, will be political fodder for Republicans who are trying to capitalize on - on a very, very complex and difficult situation.

SIDNER: David, the president of Iran killed, we now know, overnight. We've got word that he and his foreign minister killed in a helicopter crash in Iran.

There are so many things going on in the region. You've got the war. You've got this new information. You have what's happening in Ukraine with the war there and Russia.

The chaos. Will Biden be blamed because Donald Trump often blames him for a chaotic time that we are having abroad. How does he deal with that? How does he spin that?

AXELROD: Well, if you're asking me about this particular incident,

[08:55:01]

I don't think any - anyone is - should be blamed for this. The government of Iran itself said there was a tech - it was a technical problem with a helicopter that caused it to crash in this remote region.

But, listen, this is part of the - this is part of the burden of being president of the United States. Wars erupt and you are president. I think the president has handled it well, bringing together allies in Ukraine, for example, bringing together the force that the Israelis needed in Israel to repel attacks from Iran. But that is - that is the burden of the presidency.

What you should - what we should not want, Matt talks about the global order, what we should not want is to be in a go it alone position in the world. We should want allies. We should want measured relationships between ourselves and other countries so that we can move together to try and bring some order when disorder erupts.

SIDNER: David Axelrod, Matt Mowers, we will leave it. David's going to get the last word there, but, Matt Mowers, thank you so much for joining us, both of you, this morning.

MOWERS: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: And we do have more on that breaking news out of Iran this morning.

President Ebrahim Raisi killed Sunday when the helicopter that he was riding in crashed in a remote area of the country. Iran's foreign minister and seven other people were also killed in the crash in a mountainous area near the border with Azerbaijan.

The Iranian government says in the aftermath of this shock there will be no chaos, no disruption. The supreme leader's declared five days of public mourning, but big questions, though, still remain about how this really impacts Iran and how it reverberates across the Middle East, especially as Iran's long-running shadow war with Israel just burst into the open last month.

Joining me right now as Norman Roule. He was the national intelligence manager for Iran at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence from 2008 to 2017.

Norman, thank you so much.

If you're back in your posts that ODNI or at the CIA, what are the questions on your mind this morning? What are you watching most closely?

NORMAN ROULE, SENIOR ADVISER, TRANSNATIONAL THREATS PROJECT: Good morning.

Well, the first issue is going to be, what does this mean for Iran's posture in the region? Will - should we expect any changes? The short answer there is no. And indeed the new acting foreign minister is a seasoned diplomat who has worked extensively on nuclear and hostage issues and will be known to American diplomats and their European and Chinese counterparts.

The second question is going to be, what does this mean for Iran's long-term stability? And here this becomes a problem. The supreme leader has one goal, to transition Iran to a new generation of leadership that can sustain the revolution. And Raisi was part of that. With his departure, he has a much smaller group of people to turn to, to make that dream - that ambition real.

BOLDUAN: Does this make Iran more vulnerable?

ROULE: I don't think so. Not in the short term. The Revolutionary Guard remains strong. The president did not have control over Iran's foreign policy or Iran's relationship with proxies. But I think what it does do is bring Iran one step closer to a time when its revolutionary generation is a memory and its leadership is dominated by people who are associated with the Revolutionary Guard itself.

BOLDUAN: You did - you mentioned the supreme leader. I mean he was seen as a contender, if you will, to replace the supreme leader, who I believe is about 85 years old. What - how does this impact kind of the plans of succession? I mean what do you think - what do you think this means now?

ROULE: The supreme leader is 85. He is in poor health. He has a focus, as I've said, on setting up an architecture that sustains all of the ideals for which he has fought in Iran for decades. This leaves him with a very small group of individuals with strong credentials. Raisi had been the head of the judiciary, the head of a large parastatal organization, a proven hardline supporter of the supreme leader. He doesn't have someone like that I put in that chair.

So the next president, who they've got to identify in about 50 days, is going to have to be someone in - sort of a second tier person who can assure stability while they again try to figure out what happens for succession. It is possible the supreme leader's son may replace him, although he is unpopular, lacks charisma and lacks the religious and political credentials traditionally seen as important for the job.

BOLDUAN: Yes, all of this wrapped up a lot of breaking news this morning.

Norman, thank you. Having someone on with your credentials to talk through this is very important for us today. Thank you so much for your time.

[09:00:01]

ROULE: You're welcome.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

And thank you all so much for sticking with us through breaking news upon breaking news this morning.