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Building Site Of Parkland School Shooting To Be Demolished; Trump Urges GOP Lawmakers To Talk About Abortion "Correctly"; Tajiks' Arrest Renews Concern Of A Terror Attack On The United States. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired June 14, 2024 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:31:24]
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Singer Chris Brown left literally hanging from the ceiling for several minutes during his concert in New Jersey this week. He couldn't get down because of a technical malfunction with the wires. You see he eventually did with a ladder.
Videos of the incident showing Brown continued to sing while also furiously gesturing to the crew to help him out. Brown was eventually given that ladder you see there and climbed down. He's fine. He appeared to have some, though, heated words with some of his crew. At the end of the show, Brown told the audience he was pretty mad about that mishap.
All right. South Florida bracing for more rain and possible flooding today. It is the fourth-straight day of that rain. Today's forecast, thankfully, not as severe as it was Thursday. Still, seven million people across South Florida, including Miami and Fort Lauderdale, remain under a flood watch. Florida's governor issuing a state of emergency for several counties in that southern region, and he is urging locals to try to remain at home and not drive, of course, through those floodwaters.
South Korea's vice foreign minister held an emergency phone call with this U.S. counterpart over a potential visit by Vladimir Putin to North Korea. The pair sounding the alarm over that visit. And according to South Korea's Foreign Ministry, the minister stressed Putin's visit should not result in any deepening military ties between Russia and the North. According to readouts of the call, the U.S. and South Korea agreed to continue to closely monitor the situation there -- Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So this morning, a milestone moment and a long time coming for the victims, the families, and the community in Parkland, Florida. Demolition is about to begin on the 1200 Building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Now, this is the building where 17 students and staff were killed in that horrific shooting back in February of 2018.
And so -- for more than six years, it has remained standing and essentially frozen in time -- standing like something of a -- like a horrible time capsule -- walls ridden with bullet holes, stained floors -- because it was used as evidence in the murderer's trial. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2022.
And now, after this long wait, the demolition of the 1200 Building is about to begin today. You can imagine there are a lot of mixed feelings about this moment.
Joining me right now is Lori Alhadeff whose 14-year-old daughter Alyssa was one of the 17 beautiful lives taken that day. Lori is also now the chair of the Broward County School Board. Lori, thank you for being here. How are you feeling this morning?
LORI ALHADEFF, MOTHER OF PARKLAND SHOOTING VICTIM ALYASA ALHADEFF, CHAIR, BROWARD COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD (via Webex by Cisco): I'm a little bit nervous in anticipation for the demolition of the 1200 Building here my daughter Alyssa was murdered.
BOLDUAN: I -- my heart just cracked wide open when I was reading a -- you were speaking to some reporters previously and you'd said that this step is part of the healing process for you and your family. That your son still attends school there and that he has to walk past that building where his sister died every day at school.
How is your son doing with this today?
ALHADEFF: So, we all know that this is one more step in our healing process and it's important that six years later, that this building comes down. And my family - you know, we are grieving the death of our daughter Alyssa. We're healing. But we're also trying to make change through our nonprofit organization Make Our Schools Safe.
[07:35:00]
BOLDUAN: You know, other families have said that they actually would prefer that the building be preserved. Kind of some saying that while excruciatingly painful, the tours that have been led through the building with policymakers and others they believe have led to people making safety improvements elsewhere.
Do you see that?
ALHADEFF: So, yes, it definitely served its purpose at the time. Legislators going through that building seeing the blood on the ground, the glass on the floor, the horror that took place there on that Valentine's Day six years ago.
And I know that legislators have made change. Like, Rep. Wilcox from Utah -- he came back from that tour of the building, and he created a very robust school safety bill with Alyssa's Law and add panic buttons in schools so that if there is a life-threatening emergency we can get help on the scene as quickly as possible. We know that time equals life.
BOLDUAN: I don't believe it's been decided what will go in the building's place, if anything. What are you hoping for? What are your thoughts on that?
ALHADEFF: So I'm hoping for it to be a usable space. It's still in conversations with the families and staff at the school -- the teachers. But I'd like to see, like, an amnesty legacy field where students can practice. There could be a teachable area where we can remember and keep the legacy alive of the 17.
BOLDUAN: Yeah.
Alyssa would be about 20 years old now. Can you leave us with a memory of Alyssa that you're holding close with you today as this moment is about to happen?
ALHADEFF: The day before Alyssa was murdered, she played in her last soccer game, and she was fierce. She was captain of her soccer team and wore the number eight. And we just miss and love Alyssa so much and we will continue to keep your memory alive through Make Our Schools Safe.
BOLDUAN: Yeah.
Lori, thank you so much for coming on. This is a big moment --
ALHADEFF: Thank you.
BOLDUAN: -- for your entire community. Thank you very much -- Sara.
SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Kate.
Still ahead, law enforcement is warning ISIS isn't done with us. New details about the eight men arrested with suspected ISIS terror links and the gaps in the immigration process that allowed them to cross the border in the first place.
Plus, CNN speaks with Donald Trump's supporters and a theme emerges amongst them. They call the United States a republic, not a democracy. How the Trump campaign is changing the narrative on democracy and the dangerous warnings that it now comes with.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are you concerned if Trump loses --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.
O'SULLIVAN: -- that there will be another January 6.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I think there will be a civil war. That's what I think will happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[07:42:44] BOLDUAN: Apple is now the most valuable company in the United States, edging out its longtime competitor Microsoft. Apple's market cap closed right around $3.3 trillion Thursday.
This week, the company made several big announcements about the future of the company and the product -- and their products, including adding in generative AI features for iPhones. It also announced a new partnership we've talked some about with ChatGTP creator OpenAI to help power some phone features. Investors jumped at this news, pushing the stock to climb.
Another Apple new move, if you will -- it's adding better security features, it says, to IOS 18 software that will include an option to lock or even hide certain apps on your phone -- Sara.
SIDNER: All right. Now some politics for you.
Following the Supreme Court's ruling on the abortion medication Mifepristone, Donald Trump is urging Republicans not to run away from the hot-button issue. The GOP has struggled to unify around the abortion debate in the wake of Roe versus Wade being overturned.
According to sources, Trump told GOP lawmakers yesterday to follow their own convictions, but to also be smart about how they talk about abortion. He also emphasized that abortion legislation should be left to the states.
For more, I'm joined by Democratic strategist and consultant, Simon Rosenberg. And Alyssa Farah Griffin, CNN political commentator and former White House communications director for Donald Trump.
All right, I'm going to start with you, Simon. This Supreme Court decision on Mifepristone, it basically leaves things as they were so that it is available to women around the country. But in a roundabout way, does this help Donald Trump do you think?
SIMON ROSENBERG, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST AND CONSULTANT (via Webex by Cisco): Well, first of all, welcome back, Sara.
SIDNER: Thank you.
ROSENBERG: It's great to have you back.
The -- I think the -- no, I don't think any of this helps Donald Trump -- I mean, because Donald Trump will be in this election -- the person who is singularly responsible for stripping the rights and freedoms away of the women of the United States. I mean, women today -- many -- tens of millions of women today in the United States have fewer rights and freedoms than people -- women who live in Mexico or Brazil. I mean, there's been a huge backsliding in America on fundamental rights and freedoms.
And what the president is still supporting is this notion that it's OK for politicians to decide about reproductive freedom and not a woman and their doctor.
[07:45:05]
And so, I think what's important for your listeners -- your viewers to understand is that when he says he's OK with the Idaho law, which is the most restrictive law in the country -- and if he's OK with that in Idaho, then he's also OK with it everywhere. And so, Donald Trump is running -- even though he doesn't I think totally understand this, he's running as an abortion extremist. And I think this is going to be huge problem for him in this election as it has been for Republicans in the last two years.
SIDNER: And I'm going to sort of go further with that.
Alyssa, how are Republicans sort of responding to this?
ROSENBERG: Yeah.
SIDNER: It's almost like he's telling them, like, tread carefully because this is an issue that we sort of have a problem with, although he boasts about being the president that put the Supreme Court in place to overturn Roe versus Wade.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right. And this was a moment that Donald Trump is actually being politically savvy in picking up on the moment in the country where the Republican position on abortion is widely unpopular. Because we have seen a number of red states -- Ohio, Kentucky, Kansas -- where ballot initiatives, constitutional amendments to preserve abortion rights have come up. And people have flocked out in droves, including Republicans, to vote for those rights.
So he's absolutely right to say you, at minimum, need to say that you're for exceptions. But it's not so much a messaging problem. I think he would like to think that. It really is a facts problem and it's the single greatest vulnerability for Republicans.
My advice is always if you say you're pro-life, you need to be pro- life through the duration of a child's life. You're for paid family leave, greatest investment in foster care, investing in programs like WIC and TANF that help the most vulnerable mothers. That's where Republicans should be shifting the messaging, but they've not gotten their footing on this issue.
SIDNER: And the Democrats are trying to exploit that in --
GRIFFIN: I suspect Joe Biden is going to really hammer this in the debate against Donald Trump. He's going to make him own -- like, he's responsible for Roe coming down.
SIDNER: All right. I do want to ask you about what happened when Donald Trump when to Capitol Hill for the first time since the January 6 attack. And we saw what -- I mean, in 2021, these would be extraordinary pictures with him and Mitch McConnell sort of shaking hands and being chummy. Mitch McConnell -- you know, someone who is privately doesn't have a lot nice to say about Donald Trump. But you see Republicans -- they are cheering him on. What did you take -- what was your takeaway from that meeting with Donald Trump there on Capitol Hill?
GRIFFIN: It was, honestly, jarring to see Donald Trump back at the Capitol after January 6 -- a day that I was getting texts from people in the Capitol who felt like their life was a risk because of a mob that he incited to attack it. And then, Mitch McConnell -- somebody who was done with him after that day, as were so many other Republican leaders -- to then come around four years later and embrace him. Also, someone who has leveled deeply racist attacks against his own wife.
I don't know why Mitch McConnell needs to do this. He's not running for leader again. He didn't need to show up and get that handshake photo with him. But it just shows one after the other, Republicans are lining up behind Donald Trump because they see the power dynamic shifting. They see that he very well could be president-elect in five months.
SIDNER: Simon, what do you make of this, and how are Democrats going to --
ROSENBERG: Yeah.
SIDNER: -- potentially use this? Because they -- everybody is circling the wagons. Clearly, they know he's going to be the presumptive -- he's the presumptive nominee and --
ROSENBERG: Yeah.
SIDNER: -- he will -- he will be the nominee for the party.
ROSENBERG: I think it's a reminder of the enormous risk the Republican Party is taking by rallying behind Trump. I mean, he's not just an insurrectionist; he is somebody who is promising to end American democracy for all time if he gets into the White House in January of next year. But he's also a felon and he's been -- and he's now liable for sexual assault.
I mean, there's so much baggage that Trump has, and they are rallying behind him. But I think we're even beginning to see in polling -- I mean, we had five polls in the last week showing the race shifting between two and four points to Joe Biden, which is a reminder, again, that the Republicans I think are taking an extraordinary risk -- an unprecedented risk in backing a criminal. Somebody who led an insurrection. Somebody whose performance on the stump is wildly far more erratic than it was in the past, and whose positions are more extreme and dangerous than they were in 2020.
I mean, MAGA has been a failed politics. It failed in 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2023. And they're doubling down on a politics that keeps losing. Republicans are taking an enormous political risk by getting behind Donald Trump.
SIDNER: And we're starting to see some of the ads from the Biden campaign hammering him on some of the many things that you -- that you -- ROSENBERG: Yeah.
SIDNER: -- mentioned there, Simon.
I want to ask you about what we -- our KFILE dug up, which is -- it wasn't that hard to dig up. But they did go back and look, which was -- which is really interesting.
One person who has been on the list for the potential vice president for Donald Trump is J.D. Vance --
GRIFFIN: Um-hum.
SIDNER: -- who has been coming out and speaking very positively about him and has basically, all nice things to say now.
But that was not always the case. You look back at some of the things that he liked on his Twitter page. Were -- one of them was he -- someone who called Donald Trump "USA's most hated, villainous, douchey celebs." Like, he liked that back in 2016-2017.
[07:50:04]
ROSENBERG: (Laughing).
SIDNER: And he's -- Simon's cracking up.
But, I mean, these are things that would really upset, for lack of a better word, Donald Trump.
Do you see this hurting his chances?
GRIFFIN: So, there was a time where this would hurt his chances, but I think J.D. Vance has gone so far in this about-face of just being effusive for Donald Trump. Donald Trump actually loves that. He loves somebody who he gets to come --
SIDNER: To come around.
GRIFFIN: -- to his side. So there's a way to work it to his advantage.
But I think it just shows what a duplicitous person J.D. Vance is. He used to be on this network often saying what a threat Donald Trump was. And now, he's come around to despite the facts of January 6 and things only have gotten worse since when he said those things, is now his biggest supporter.
SIDNER: Simon, we have this juxtaposition here. Donald Trump was talking to Jake Paul, a YouTube star who just signed a deal with the WWE. And they took this picture that --
ROSENBERG: Yeah.
SIDNER: -- you know, Donald Trump was sort of joking around as if he was going to fight with him. But when you -- when you --
ROSENBERG: Yeah.
SIDNER: When they sat down and they talked, they talked about some of the leaders of countries that are a real problem for the United States -- North Korea, Putin -- kind of praising them. At the same time, Joe Biden is at the G7 talking through some of these issues --
ROSENBERG: Yeah.
SIDNER: -- for example, like Ukraine.
This juxtaposition -- do you think Democrats should be using some of this in their -- in their push towards the White House?
ROSENBERG: Listen, I think if you look over the last week you see this incredible contrast that is beginning to emerge.
I mean, we had, last Friday, one of the best jobs reports we've had in recent months. We had 50 percent more jobs created than was anticipated. The inflation report this week -- inflation was zero in May. Prices did not go up, and many prices actually went down, which is something that we've all wanted to happen now for many, many months.
And then, Joe Biden has been at the G7 and also he was, last week, at the D-Day celebrations where he was representing our values and our interests in a very powerful way abroad. And you have a strong American president who is fighting for us abroad and here at home, making things better here at home versus a guy who is spending most of his time trying to stay out of jail.
And I think that this contrast has gotten much brighter in the last few weeks and will be central to how we're approaching the election this year, without a doubt.
SIDNER: Simon Rosenberg, Alyssa Farah Griffin, it's always nice to see you. I'm glad to have you on the set with me.
GRIFFIN: Welcome back.
SIDNER: Simon, we've got to get you in here.
ROSENBERG: Welcome back, Sara.
SIDNER: We've got to get you in here so you can all be at the table and we can give you cookies and coffee. That's all we've got. We appreciate your time, both of you.
ROSENBERG: I love cookies. I love cookies.
SIDNER: Excellent. We'll bring a lot. So we do -- Kate.
BOLDUAN: I love cookies. Let's just end the show today.
SIDNER: Well, I love cookies.
BOLDUAN: Thank you all. It's been --
SIDNER: I love cookies.
BOLDUAN: -- a good show. See ya.
OK, let's also turn to this. It seems like it's just a matter of time before a dangerous ISIS affiliate carries out an attack in the United States. That is what one terrorism expert is now telling CNN.
And these fears are growing now among national security officials after the arrest of eight Tajik nationals were -- with suspected ties to ISIS this week. The men -- they crossed the U.S. southern border and were vetted when they requested asylum. Those men are now in custody and set to be deported.
CNN's Katie Bo Lillis has much more on this, and there's a lot to learn about these men and what happened and what they know. What more are you learning about their ties?
KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, Kate. Look, very important to understand right off the bat that according to the U.S. officials that we spoke to, there's no evidence at this time that these men were sent to the United States by ISIS-K as any part of a specific plot to conduct violence on the United States. But that doesn't mean that officials weren't very worried about them.
One of the things that sparked this arrest was officials were able to pick up on concerning extremist rhetoric by at least some of these men, prompting this sting operation across the country to arrest -- to arrest all eight of these people.
Now, the concern here for U.S. officials that I spoke to is that these men might have been radicalized to conduct an attack once they were already in the United States -- potentially, feeling isolated, homesick, maybe financial vulnerable -- all things that might make a person susceptible to ISIS propaganda.
And one of the things that U.S. intelligence officials know about ISIS-K -- this particular splinter of ISIS that these men are said to be connected to -- is that they have really emphasized their online propaganda and online recruitment efforts, right? They've really focused on trying to inspire so-called lone wolf attackers rather than train and field operatives the way that al Qaeda did, for example, with the 9/11 attacks.
And so, U.S. officials are also particularly concerned because these men came from Tajikistan, and Tajikistan is a country that ISIS-K has recruited heavily from. Many ISIS-K leaders in Afghanistan are, in fact, Tajik. It's a very poor country. It's a country that -- where the population is under an extreme amount of religious repression -- both things that terrorism experts and terrorism analysts believe really make for kind of a petri dish for extremism.
[07:55:03] And so, U.S. officials telling us that they grew -- they surveilled this group for a period of time. This sort of derogatory information -- this information about their potential ties to ISIS came to light. And amid sort of growing fears by U.S. officials that the -- that the situation in Gaza and the tensions that has inflamed has left the United States sort of uniquely vulnerable to a potential lone wolf attack, they moved out of an abundance of caution to move and pick up these people and arrest them.
But still, Kate, a matter of ongoing investigation as officials try to understand both the exact nature of their ties to ISIS and to understand this group and how it operates in general, Kate.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Thank you for the reporting, Katie Bo -- Sara.
SIDNER: All right. Across America, a debate is simmering about the nature of the country's political system. Many MAGA Republicans are claiming that America is not actually a democracy. They say it's a republic instead. What does this distinction, though, mean to them, and what are the implications for the nation's future?
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan went to the heart of the conversation to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'SULLIVAN: What happens if Trump loses?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't see him losing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think he lost the last election, to be honest.
O'SULLIVAN: Do you think he's going to win?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, without a doubt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No doubt.
O'SULLIVAN: What if he doesn't this time? What happens to the country?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're in big trouble.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're done. Biden talks about democracy -- you know, saving democracy. They're the ones that are killing democracy.
O'SULLIVAN: Obviously, there's a lot of criticisms of Trump that he is bad for democracy. That he's bad for American democracy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I say something? We are a republic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are a republic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are not a democracy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're a represented republic. We're not a democracy.
O'SULLIVAN: One thing we've been hearing at Trump rallies like this over the past few months is the America isn't really a democracy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: America is not a democracy; it's a republic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, it's not a democracy, OK? Democracy is actually not as good as you think it is.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): But for centuries, America has celebrated its democracy.
RONALD REAGAN, (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Democracy is worth dying for.
GEORGE W. BUSH, (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Democracy remains the definition of political legitimacy.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): But some Republicans and pro-Trump media are pushing the idea that America is not a democracy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The United States of America is not a democracy. We are a constitutional republic.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): The United States of American is not a democracy. You don't want to be in a democracy.
PETE HEGSETH, FOX NEW HOST: We are not a democracy. We are a republic.
O'SULLIVAN: Is America a democracy?
ANNE APPLEBAUM, AUTHOR, AUTOCRACY, INC.: America is a democracy. It was founded as a democracy.
O'SULLIVAN: I've heard a lot of conspiracy theories -- I hear a lot of things out on the road. But to hear Americans -- people who would describe themselves as patriots -- say that America is not a democracy -- that stopped me in my tracks.
APPLEBAUM: You are hearing people say America is not a democracy because there are people around Trump who want them to be saying that. Who have been planting that narrative.
O'SULLIVAN: Is America a democracy?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I don't -- I think we're a republic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, not right now but -- yeah, we're a republic.
O'SULLIVAN: What's the difference?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like democracy -- let me think this through. That it's government controlled. I don't see freedom in democracy; I see freedom in the republic.
APPLEBAUM: Honestly, the word "democracy" and the word "republic" have often been used interchangeably. There isn't a meaningful difference between them.
O'SULLIVAN: So much of the warnings and criticism about Trump is that he is a threat to democracy. That he is anti-democratic.
APPLEBAUM: Absolutely. If they can convince people that we don't have a democracy, then it's OK that Trump is attacking democracy because it doesn't really matter.
O'SULLIVAN: So why -- like, why has democracy become a bad word?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because it's being used in a way to change the flavor of our country, which is a republic.
APPLEBAUM: These words were used in different ways in the 18th century. And it's true the founders didn't want direct democracy, by which they meant people gathering on the town square. They wanted representative democracy.
But I think the reason why this conversation about language has risen now is because there is a part of the Republican Party that would like to rule as a minority, and they need an excuse for why that's OK. And so, they have begun to say we're not a democracy; we're a republic -- and it's not 100 percent clear what that means, but I think they mean we want Donald Trump to be able to do whatever he wants.
O'SULLIVAN: Some people I've been speaking to at Trump events recently --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN: -- have been saying America is not a democracy; it's a republic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've always been a democracy, first of all.
O'SULLIVAN: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, we have -- we used to have freedom of speech and freedom of religion. We used to have that, too. Now they're picking on the Christians and the Jewish people. I mean, how much more can we take?
O'SULLIVAN: Are you concerned if Trump loses --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.
O'SULLIVAN: -- that there will be another January 6?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I think there will b a civil war. That's what I think will happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'SULLIVAN: And look, of course, there is a legitimate discussion and debate to have about what form of democracy there is here in the United States.
