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FAA Predicts Busiest Memorial Day Weekend; University Presidents Speak at Capitol Hill Hearing; Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R- NY) is Interviewed about the November Elections; Patrick Kennedy is Interviewed about Mental Health. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired May 23, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:31:16]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, this Memorial Day travel weekend is expected to be the busiest in 14 years. The FAA says there should be more than 53,000 flights in the air today alone.

CNN aviation correspondent and in-sync backup dancer Pete Muntean is with us this morning.

This is going to be a busy weekend, Pete.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: I would have been the cute one, John.

The rush officially starts today according to AAA. And the - it's really five days of bumper to bumper traffic in some spots, especially those beach areas. But it really also extends to maybe a bit of gridlock in the air and on airport tarmacs. As you mentioned, the FAA says today will be the biggest day of the holiday weekend in terms of the number of flights scheduled. More than 53,000 flights scheduled in the U.S. today. American Airlines says 6,200 of those flights will be its own metal.

A lot of people getting an early start to the holiday, which matches this trend of the post pandemic era. Work schedules a lot more flexible than they were before 2020. In fact, the TSA says, of the top ten traveled days of all time, four happened in this month, notably last Friday and this past Sunday were huge when 2.8 million people were screened at airports nationwide.

The TSA says it will probably see a similarly huge number today. And even more people tomorrow when TSA checkpoints are expected to hit their peak of the holiday weekend. Here is the big tip from TSA, especially if you cut it close like me, get to the airport two hours early. Not only will the lines be long at security, but also lines getting into the airport. There's going to be a lot of car traffic.

This is especially true if you're flying in the morning. And I want you to listen now to what TSA administrator David Pekoske said about this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID PEKOSKE, TSA ADMINISTRATOR: If you're traveling in the early morning hours or in the mid to late afternoon into the early evening, those are peak travel times in any airport across the country. If you can schedule your travel around those times, you would likely find the wait times to be a little bit less.

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MUNTEAN: Remember, a lot more people going to be driving this holiday weekend rather than flying. AAA says 38 million people will drive up to 50 miles or more. It's up 4 percent from last year, up 2 percent from 2019 pre-pandemic, the biggest number TSA - or sorry, AAA is anticipating since the year 2000.

John.

BERMAN: And again, the Pete Muntean theorem for how to avoid holiday travel is leave early and stay late.

MUNTEAN: Stay late. Thats right.

BERMAN: Excellent. All -

MUNTEAN: If you can. If you can tweak it, do it.

BERMAN: If you can tweak it, do it. That's another mantra to live by right there.

Pete Muntean, thank you very much.

All right, Amara.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, moments from now, university heads from UCLA, Rutgers, and Northwestern will testify before Congress about the protests on campuses and the allegations of anti- Semitism.

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[09:38:48]

WALKER: All right, breaking news into CNN. Singer Cassie is speaking out for the first time since CNN obtained video of her being physically assaulted by her then boyfriend, Sean "Diddy" Combs in 2016. In the video, Combs could be seen grabbing, shoving, dragging, and kicking her.

Now, in a statement, Cassie Ventura thanked her supporters for the outpouring of love and also wrote, "my only ask is that everyone open your heart to believing victims the first time." She goes on to say, "I offer my hand to those still living in fear. No one should carry this weight alone."

Days after the video aired, Combs issued - Combs issued an apology of sorts. He had previously denied vehemently Ventura's allegations of assault, which were the basis of a now-settled federal lawsuit that she filed back in November.

Now, if you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence and need help, you can call the domestic violence hotline. That number is 1-800-799-SAFE. Again, that's 1-800-799-7233.

All right, any moment now the presidents of several major universities are set to testify before Congress about recent protests on their campuses. Just last week demonstrations on UCLA's campus ended in violent clashes when counter protesters tried to take down a pro- Palestinian encampment.

[09:40:06]

Well, this morning we will hear from UCLA's president, along with the presidents of Rutgers and Northwestern.

CNN's Matt Egan joining me now with more on what to expect.

I mean the last time we saw a hearing like this it didn't really go well for some of the presidents, right, at these universities?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Amara. I think we can expect some fireworks and a good amount of good old fashion political theater. This is the third hearing on campus anti-Semitism. The first one was back in December. And that one went so terribly for the universities that within weeks two of the three presidents from Harvard and Penn were out of jobs. Then there was the Columbia hearing last month that really set the stage for those historic protests on campus.

Now we're talking about Rutgers, UCLA and Northwestern. And, look, I think that these college presidents, they have the advantage of going after the other hearings. So they kind of know the line of questioning, but they also have the disadvantage of testifying at a moment of historic turmoil on campus. And these presidents, they are facing pressure really from all sides, right? I mean Republicans and donors have accused them of sort of allowing and tolerating anti- Semitism on campus, which is something that they deny. But then you hear from students and faculty who fear as though they feel like some of the protesters have actually been silenced.

So, this is going to be a very challenging moment for these college presidents. Rutgers, Northwestern, they're going to face questions about the agreements that they reached with the pro-Palestinian protests. And the UCLA chancellor, he is going to face some tough questions about that violence that happened on campus, specifically the counter-protesters attacking the pro-Palestinian protests.

So, a lot to come in the next few hours on this front, Amara.

WALKER: We'll watch it closely with you.

Matt Egan, thanks so much.

EGAN: Thank you.

WALKER: Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So this morning, Donald Trump is Bronx bound, making a somewhat rare campaign stop for really any Republican presidential candidate to rally in the deeply blue part of New York City. His target, to push his appeal to black and Hispanic voters. Voters who definitely helped Joe Biden win in 2020, and also a group of voters that recent polls show are warming to Donald Trump. Despite the fact that 83 percent of the Bronx vote in 2021 to Biden and Biden also won the whole state in 2020, Donald Trump says he can win New York state this time around with a big if.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you really think there's a chance that New York, a blue state, could be in play this election season?

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I do if we can have an honest election and if we can let the facts out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me right now, Republican congresswoman from New York, Nicole Malliotakis.

Congresswoman, thank you so much for taking time.

Donald Trump there. He's again questioning if the election - questioning the - throwing out the possibility of questioning over election results. The difference is, this time he's questioning the reliability potentially of the election results in New York, throwing out the possibility of not trusting the outcome of the New York elections.

Do you question the election results in New York, including, you know, the results of your election from 2020?

REP. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (R-NY): Well, I think that New York has a very good system in place with our voting. In fact, "The New York Post" did report, unfortunately, that there were a few dead people that did vote in our elections in 2018 - 2020, rather. But the issue is that regardless of that, I do believe that we have the ability to have a fair election in New York, and I do believe that President Trump is right when he says that we have the ability to potentially win New York. If not win, do very well as Lee Zeldin did when he ran for governor.

Why? Because people in New York are fed up with the one-party Democratic rule. We are seeing all sorts of chaos in New York from illegal immigrant gang members that have created a lot of crime, including murder. We are seeing congestion pricing, another tax grab from Governor Kathy Hochul to enter the city center. That's going to crush - crush New Yorkers that live in the outer boroughs. We see the bail reform law and how that has increased crime and people

feel less safe in our city. They are less safe in our city. And so I think that there's a lot of potential for Republicans to make inroads. And we proved that last year with the Bronx. We did win. We flipped a city council seat right in the heart of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's district. We also flip assembly seats within my congressional district.

And so we are making inroads in the state of New York. And it is a combination between the failed policies of the Democrats that are running New York and also what Republicans have offered and what we're fighting for, OK? We want to see low energy costs. We want to see low - lower inflation. We want to see safer streets, secure borders. That's what we fight for.

Unfortunately, President Biden has allowed all that stuff to happen under his watch. He created a lot of it by the policies that he put in place.

BOLDUAN: Do you think that New York should be a target as a pickup for Donald Trump to spend money, his campaign, to poor resources in?

[09:45:04]

You think he should do that to target, to try to win New York in 2024?

MALLIOTAKIS: Well, we'll have to see how the polling continues. I know for a fact that there have been polls conducted that show that he has - he has a possibility of winning New York. And it's one of the states - it is the state where we flipped multiple congressional districts last cycle and we are in a very good position to perhaps flip a couple more. So, I think it is in play. And the fact that he's spending so much time right now in New York, people are seeing what is happening to him. They believe that he's being politically prosecuted.

I will tell you that I represent a lot of immigrants, people in - I speak to in the Chinese community, Albanian community, Egyptian community, for example, have told me that they are not happy with the way this president has been targeted by the - by the prosecutors and they're afraid that this is - you know, this is what they saw in their homeland. They don't want it happening here in the United States. And I think that's actually going to help him tremendously with the immigrant communities.

But again, at the end of the day it comes down to pocket issues. The people in the Bronx, people in New York, they're paying more for everything. To commuting to Manhattan. They're paying more to put food on their table. They're having difficulty putting a roof over their head. Why? Because inflation has risen under this president. They have the anti-energy policies that have crushed New York.

Do you know that in New York state they shut down Indian Point powerplant - nuclear power plant, which was 26 percent of New York City's electricity, and costs have skyrocketed for New Yorkers.

So, all of these policies that the Democrats have done are going to be hurtful. And that's why President Trump has an advantage.

BOLDUAN: I want to ask you about Nikki Haley. She says that - she's now said that she's going to be voting for Donald Trump. It has been suggested that - that Donald Trump should pick her to be his running mate despite, you know, the contentious primary. Would you like to see Nikki Haley as Donald Trump's running mate?

MALLIOTAKIS: I like Nikki Haley. She's a friend. And I do believe that she could be very good in helping us unite this party. She is still getting a significant number of votes in some primaries across the country despite not even running anymore. And we should not turn a blind eye to that.

If there is a way that the two of them can unite, we should, I think, move forward with that. That would be a very strong ticket.

I also like Senator Tim Scott. I also think Elise Stefanik from New York, great candidates. So, we'll see how this turns out. At the end of the day, it's going to be the president's decision. I don't know what the personal dynamic there are. But I do think that Nikki Haley would be an asset for President Trump. And I do think that she can help bring over some independents and Democrats.

BOLDUAN: Well, let us see if that is part of Donald Trump's message when he goes into the deep blue Bronx this evening.

Congresswoman, thank you for your time.

MALLIOTAKIS: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: It's like a Malliotakis shortlist right there for VP.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I like it.

BERMAN: That was interesting.

BOLDUAN: I was like, oh, I'm taking notes.

BERMAN: She named names.

Live Nation is expected to face a new antitrust lawsuit from the Justice Department today after chaos ensued when millions of Taylor Swift fans were blocked from purchasing tickets to the Eras Tour.

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[09:52:05]

BERMAN: May is Mental Health Awareness Month. One in five U.S. adults, that's nearly 60 million people, deal with a form of mental illness every year. Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy has written and spoken extensively about his own journey with mental health and now he's writing about others in a new book titled "Profiles in Mental Health Courage." Here now is author and former Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy.

Great to see you, Congressman. Obviously, the title of your book based on your uncle's book, "Profile in Courage."

Why do you think it's so important to talk about the different journeys that different people have in mental health?

PATRICK KENNEDY, AUTHOR, "PROFILES IN MENTAL HEALTH COURAGE": Thanks, John.

Well, I think everyone now feels less stigma -

BERMAN: Yes.

KENNEDY: About saying that they have a diagnosis or that they are in recovery. But we don't really understand, what does that mean? You know, we have various folks, like Simone Biles, said that she had mental health issues, but no one could really understand, why couldn't she get on the balance beam? What was it about her life that mental health really impacted?

So, in the point of these 12 stories is to hear from different people in different walks of life with different diagnosis. How do they relate to family, friends? How do they navigate life? How do they navigate the healthcare system? How do they navigate employment? I mean these are the real life stories of people who live with these illnesses. And we really don't get that kind of in-depth perspective, which is, I think, what we really need now in America for us to fully embrace more transparency in the way we discussed mental illness and addiction.

BERMAN: I'm so glad you brought up Simone Biles because I was thinking about her. I was thinking about John Fetterman. I was thinking about all the different places and different people now where we speak openly about mental health in ways I don't think we did ten years ago. I don't think we did, you know, in 2010 when you left Congress to basically spend full-time, all your time on this.

Is the battle against mental health, you know, we're winning the battle against smoking, right? Are we winning the battle against mental health stigma?

KENNEDY: You know, as I said, on a superficial level. But I want to know, how does John Fetterman deal with his depression every single day. What are the specific ways that it impacts his quality of life? Does it still impact it, you know? How did he respond to treatment? And what current treatment is he seeking?

And all of that requires a new level of disclosure, which, frankly on the surface, it's enough of a big deal for him to say I got treatment, or for Simone Biles or Michael Phelps to see - say that they got help. But what Americans don't get is, what does this really mean in people's lives? And when they read these 12 profiles, they will understand the answer to that question because each of these people who use their own name tell the full story of how they navigate life living with these illnesses. [09:55:04]

And we, as a nation, are going to make a difference. We have to have a better understanding and appreciation of what these illnesses look like and what are the ways that we can begin to address them?

BERMAN: Have to ask you one political question. Obviously your cousin is running for president as an independent, Robert Kennedy. He's got some platforms on health care that are controversial. I know you care a lot about health care. Is this something you could support?

KENNEDY: Well, I - my family's legacy is in public health. And just like in mental health, we don't want anecdotal evidence. We want real science and real data. And that is what the Kennedy legacy is about. It's not about, you know, distorted fact to make a point. It's about finding the right data to make good decisions. We're going to need to make those decisions if we're going to fund the right interventions to help people with mental illness and addiction. It's too fraught with feelings, emotions, opinions. We've got to get past that and go to exactly what works and what the science demonstrates works best.

BERMAN: It's such an important battle. You were right in the middle of it. Patrick Kennedy, thank you so much for being with us. Thank you for the work you've done on the issues surrounding mental health. Nice to see you.

KENNEDY: Thank you so much, John.

BOLDUAN: Its good to see the congressman again.

BERMAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: It really is.

Thank you all so much for joining us.

Amara, thank you so much for being here.

BERMAN: Yes, great to have you here.

WALKER: Oh, thanks for having me. It's good to be here.

BOLDUAN: This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Jim Acosta is up next.

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