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Trump Calls RNC Host Milwaukee A "Horrible City"; Building Site Of Parkland School Shooting Being Demolished; Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To Abortion Pill Mifepristone. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 14, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

SGT. DAVID MUSGROVE, CHARLOTTE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: I got to find him first and send EMS.

At some point in that intersection right here, she got clipped by the motorcycle.

KAYLEIGH FOLEY, MOTHER OF RESCUED CHILD: I remember going across the median and I just look to my left and I see a bright light and then just the crash.

MUSGROVE: Oh man. Hold on, hold on. Let me get you guys out there.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The motorcyclist was killed. Kayleigh Foley could see one of her two daughters, but not Lola.

MUSGROVE: Come here sweetheart. Hey, come here, come here, please.

YOUNG (voice-over): With the help of a bystander, Musgrove was able to get three-year-old, Ariel, to safety.

MUSGROVE: I need you to hold this little girl please.

I looked underneath the motorcyclists and that's when I saw Lola. Lola didn't look good. She didn't look like she was breathing.

FOLEY: Oh, no. No.

MUSGROVE: I just heard him breathe. Come on.

YOUNG: You've been doing this job for a while. But what's it like to have your whole heart jolted into that moment?

MUSGROVE: Come on.

I think dad mode kind of kicked in, you know, I'm a father and little presses in the sternum area just to try to jumpstart your heart. While I was doing it, then I heard her gasp.

I just heard him breathe. FOLEY: My daughters are my everything. They're all I have besides my parents, but if something were to happen to either one of them, I would be lost for sure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely devastating because, yes, I very well could have lost all three of my girls that night. I wouldn't have wanted to live another day.

YOUNG (voice-over): For the next three weeks, Lola would battle to stay alive with help from her doctors and nurses, while this family prayed together, a guardian angel by their side.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So yes, he's Uncle Dave. He's going to be a part of our family forever.

MUSGROVE: Lola is perfect, you know. She has a clean bill of health. Now she's going to be a year old July 31st. I believe I was putting the right place at the right time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sara, showing us such a small world. The Foley family actually was praying for a young girl four years ago who had cancer. That little girl did beat cancer. The girl who beat cancer was actually Musgrove's daughter so you understand how this world is so small. And Sara, it's so great to have you back. And we've all been watching how hard you've been fighting. We love to see you on T.V. again. So hopefully we'll see you soon. But this story really touched a lot of hearts because this girl never gave up.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: That video, I could not watch some of it. Just seeing the mother's visceral reaction in this little body that comes back to life, what an incredible story. Ryan, thank you so much for that. Wow.

YOUNG: Absolutely.

SIDNER: A next hour of CNN News Central, starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Another trip around the sun for Donald Trump and another trip to Washington. Today is Trump's 78th birthday and his birthday wish maybe that you talk about anything else.

Happening right now the sight of one of the worst U.S. school shootings in U.S. history is being demolished. The horror is haunting the halls of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School soon to be reduced to rubble. You're live in Parkland, Florida.

And jailed journalist Evan Gershkovich has been behind bars for over a year in Russia. The U.S. has long declared him wrongfully detained that he's just been formally indicted in Russia and is now headed to trial. A friend of Evan's will join us this hour. I'm Kate Bolduan with Sara Sidner. John is out today. This is CNN News Central.

SIDNER: The saying goes age ain't nothing but a number. But in this year's election cycle it could be a big deal. This morning, Donald Trump, as you heard from Kate, celebrating his 78th birthday. He kicked off his birthday festivities early with a cake and candles during his visit to Capitol Hill yesterday. Age has been one of the key sticking points this election cycle both Trump and Biden would be the oldest president ever sworn into office next January.

If you ask Trump he'd rather not talk about his birthday. However, First Lady Jill Biden is out on the campaign trail, pitching to voters just how beneficial all those years of experience her husband has and how important they are. CNN Alayna Treene and Priscilla Alvarez are both with me now. Trump got a warm birthday message from his supporters in Congress, some of whom were not friendly with Donald Trump until we saw him there on Capitol Hill shaking hands with Mitch McConnell. Give us some sense of what happened on the Hill, Priscilla?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: I think you mean, Alayna. I'll take this one for us.

SIDNER: Alayna, I'm sorry.

TREENE: No, it's OK. Look, I think Donald Trump was very pleased with how yesterday went with his meetings with House and Senate Republicans when I talked to Donald Trump's campaign. They really got what they wanted which was unity. Going in to Thursday his team had told me repeatedly that they wanted this to be a show of unity behind Donald Trump. They wanted to see these members lining up behind him and showing them his support, including those who have criticized him or who have even said that they might not vote for him in the upcoming election.

[09:05:22]

And essentially, that is what we saw. And you mentioned the birthday celebrations there in the House Republican meeting first in the morning, they sang happy birthday to him. Later, they presented him with a cake in the Senate Republican meeting. And it really was kind of this rah-rah Pep Valley vibe of sort, I was told from sources in the room. So again, I think his team was very pleased with that.

But just to discuss the age factor, Sara, I think this is really significant because Donald Trump is turning 78 today. And when an election is so focused heavily on both candidate's age and how old these two men are, it's not exactly something that he wants to be talking about. We actually heard him allude to that fact at a rally in Las Vegas on Sunday, where he essentially said he wants to pretend his birthday doesn't exist. Take a listen to how Trump put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, there's a certain point at which you don't want to hear happy birthday. They just want to pretend today doesn't exist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Sara, and I just want to, again, note this that Donald Trump is turning 78. He is three years younger than Joe Biden. But if he were to win the election in the fall, he would be older than the oldest president even than Joe Biden was though when he is being sworn in. And so I think that's a key thing to keep in mind. And we have some great reporters who have done some coverage of this today who pointed out that way back when if Donald Trump and Joe Biden were, they could have been in the same high school together, essentially.

And so I think it's important to keep that in mind, because so much of this coverage of this election has been focused on Joe Biden's mental acuity and mental fitness, something that Trump's team repeatedly hammers him on. But increasingly, we are seeing Democrats tried to turn that line of attack on Trump as well.

SIDNER: Now you've seen some of his speeches, some of the things he said have definitely been attacked in the last few days. Thank you so much Alayna Treene.

Let's talk about President Biden. He of course is in Italy at the G7 Summit. But his wife, Jill, she is not shying away from the age factor. Give us some sense of what she's doing on the campaign trail.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, she is jetting around the country. Look, Biden campaign officials know that age is a factor in this election. It is top of mind among voters, but they still feel like they decide they can cast these as two completely different candidates. And the President being the one that they say is going to preserve democracy.

And Jill Biden is in a very unique position to send that message across the country. Not only is she the spouse of President Joe Biden, but she is also a senior herself who talks about the benefits of aging, and can appeal to a very important voting bloc. And she tried to do that and articulate that during an event in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Take a listen to how she put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JILL BIDEN, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: This election is most certainly not about age. Joe and that other guy are essentially the same age. Let's not be fooled. Joe isn't one of the most effective presidents of our lives in spite of his age, but because of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: So there you hear it. That's an argument she'll be taking on this three-day campaign swing that's also going to include Minnesota, California, Nevada, and Arizona. In fact, today she's going to be joined by Jane Fonda in Reno, Nevada. And of course, this is a First Lady who has not shied away from slamming former President Donald Trump over his treatment of women and reproductive freedom. So more of that likely over the course of the summer. Sara?

SIDNER: Priscilla, thank you for your reporting as well as Alayna Treene. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Joining us now is Democratic strategist Joe Trippi and Maura Gillespie, founder of Bluestacks Strategies and former press adviser to John Boehner, when he was House Speaker. Let's talk about -- let's jump off with Alayna Treene was talking about, Donald Trump in Washington yesterday and meeting behind closed doors with House and Senate Republicans. And Joe, "Punchbowl" described another scene in -- from behind closed doors yesterday really well that I want to ask you about.

He says Thursday was in many ways, a perfect example of what politics is like under Trump and could be again if he wins November 5th in closed door meetings on Capitol -- at the Capitol Hill Club, Trump told Republicans that Milwaukee was a terrible city. Milwaukee just happens to be where Republicans are holding the convention next month, also saying shortly after the Trump meeting ended, members of the House Republican conference circled the wagons denying that he made the remark and then others trying to explain it away. And then the mayor of Milwaukee spoke to CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[09:10:05]

MAYOR CAVALIER JOHNSON (D), MILWAUKEE: In Wisconsin where purple state and election, statewide elections are decided on a razor thin margin. And so for the former president to call Milwaukee a horrible place, that's insulting the home to a roughly 50,000 people who vote Republican here in the city. At the end of the day, when it's in a state that's decided on a razor's edge that may ultimately cost Donald Trump the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joe, even if he was just specifically talking about a crime rate, do you think it could cause Trump?

JOE TRIPPI, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Oh, yes, I mean, look, this is, you know, clean up on aisle nine. I mean, I don't agree that he got the show of unity in the party. But somebody a lot of people in that room left and they leaked that he's called Milwaukee horrible, without any context about crime, or anything. And so the rest of the party the, you know, the group that's got to pledge fealty in public went out and, yes, I have to clean it up.

But the fact is, you know, look, the people of Wisconsin are proud of Milwaukee, they're proud of the brats, the beer, their sports teams in that city. And it's not just sort of being, you know, taking on the city, it -- I think it's going to cost him votes beyond the border of that city. And I agree with the mayor, look, Wisconsin going to be decided by, you know, a few 1,000 votes either way, this was a really dumb, self-inflicted error.

And again, somebody people within multiple sources that were in that room, so they may have been applauding him in the room, but as soon as they a lot of them walked out and start not just this, but other kind of like crazy things. He said, you know, he, you know, we talked about the age thing. But Donald Trump says these things, not because he's old, but he says them because he's dangerous. He's -- this is the rhetoric that he goes to immediately, if he dislikes something, and he clearly dislikes Milwaukee for some reason.

BOLDUAN: And Maura, this is looking at for anyone not named Donald Trump. This is an example, again, of what's old is new. Republicans being put in the position sometimes quite uncomfortable and awkward to explain or avoid taking questions or dodging questions running, especially running through the halls of Congress on things that Donald Trump says. What does this going to look like, again, for Republicans down ballot, and then in coming months?

MAURA GILLESPIE, FOUNDER & PRINCIPAL, BLUESTACK STRATEGIES: Absolutely. Well, one, it's giving me flashbacks to 2016 and having to, you know, wake up thinking, what did I miss while I was sleeping? And what do I need to respond to, you know? Like, if I had to react to every single thing that Donald Trump said on behalf of my member, or where I was working, that would have been a full time job to try and come up with a response to every single thing you said.

And polls are showing that doesn't really move the needle for people because we're used to it, this is what he does. So just take everything he says and make it a big story actually backfires. So, you know, that being said, members are probably now realizing, after having been through yesterday's unity today, that it's happening again. They're going to have to go back to reacting and responding and being held accountable because Trump isn't and he doesn't take responsibility. He still hasn't taken responsibility for January 6th.

So it's really becomes a personal threshold for members to decide, OK, what's worth it? Is it worth my job to just stand with him and do this? Is it worth it for my constituents? And maybe that's how they justify it, right? And that's perfectly understandable if they want policy things they want to get by. But I think there comes a certain point where they're going to get fatigued again.

BOLDUAN: Fatigued. Maura, yesterday, Donald Trump endorsed Larry Hogan, the former Republican governor of Maryland, who's now running for Senate in Maryland. And Hogan has -- this is very interesting because Hogan has made clear time and again, he is not supporting Donald Trump. The campaign responded to the endorsement, his campaign respond to the endorsement, saying Governor Hogan has been clear he is not supporting President Trump, just as he did not in 2016 and 2020. And Democrats jumped very quickly on this.

The DSEC (ph) using Trump's endorsement, just that line, Donald Trump wants Larry Hogan to be in the Senate as a new attack line against him. Does this hurt Larry Hogan getting an endorsement?

GILLESPIE: Honestly, I don't think it does. I think it's really interesting. And it speaks to what Trump wants here. He obviously sees the polls and thinks there's a chance that he could win both presidency House and the Senate. Again, really, I think that's what he's looking at.

And then, you know, that gives him the power to either clear his name, whatever he thinks that Congress can do for him. I heard that it was mentioned during the meetings with both House Republicans and the Senate side of things that he needs to get done to clear his name and things of that nature. So I see that as the tactic here. But I think for Larry Hogan Maryland's, you know, very viable for him.

And so he's got to stay on his path and not let, and he doesn't need Trump so, you know, to that end just keeping kind of him at the fray and outside of his orbit is probably the best.

[09:15:04]

BOLDUAN: It's just really interesting setup, right, Joe? Because you also had Lara Trump who was saying like no self-respecting Republican should be supporting Larry Hogan at all. And maybe we don't even give him money. I mean it's really wild.

TRIPPI: Yes. Yes, no, this is like -- I think this goes to the whole problem with whole party. You're not going to have -- it hasn't gone well for them, having to walk this line between fealty to Trump and trying to stay close, but not so close and walk away from him if they're in a bad district where he's not popular. It hasn't worked at all. It's one of the reasons there was no red wave in 2022.

And Larry Hogan is like the poster child for how this is going to go. Yes, Trump needs him to keep him out of jail. Great. Let's see how that message goes within the state of Maryland, even for Larry Hogan, who was a popular governor. I mean, I give him all that. But the state of Maryland is not going to vote to put a senator and that one's going to change -- could change the who has the majority in the Senate, not Larry Hogan, but giving the majority to, you know, to the Republican Party that would then, again, be able to point proves court justices, Trump the whole thing. No, not going to happen.

And if he -- if Larry Hogan moves further away from Trump, a lot of the MAGA supporters may go in and vote for other if they may vote for Trump, but they're not going to vote for Larry Hogan in this event. And that's the walk that all of them need to are going to be forced to take and a lot of these like 17 I think districts left in the House where Joe Biden won them in 2020 with were won by Republicans. They're going to face this whole thing. It's going to be a very difficult path. And I think that's why they're going to -- the Republicans blues the House and why Larry Hogan will not -- I don't think has a chance in Maryland anymore.

BOLDUAN: Definitely overnight. The already interesting Senate race in Maryland just got even more interesting. That is for sure. It's good to see you guys. Thank you both very much there. Sara?

SIDNER: Thank you, Kate. We are watching a moment in history right now as we're speaking. You're seeing this live from WSVN there in Miami, that's Parkland Florida. That is the school, the site, where 17 students and staff members were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School back in 2018. And you're watching that unfold in front of you.

All right. Plus, at any moment, the Supreme Court could rule on a case that could ban access to emergency abortions for millions of women potentially. How voters are weighing reproductive rights at the ballots. We'll have all that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:22:26]

BOLDUAN: So right now you're looking here at live pictures in Parkland, Florida, where we're seeing, they're starting to tear down Democrats are starting to tear down the building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where that horrific mass shooting took place in 2018, 14 students and three staff members were killed. The building has remained essentially frozen in time since then, because it was used as evidence in the murderer's trial.

Now with this major step now finally starting to get underway, there are understandably a lot of mixed feelings in the community. CNN's Carlos Suarez is there with much more on this. Carlos what are you seeing? What are you hearing from folks today?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, as you can imagine, it is an incredibly difficult day for the Parkland community. The work to tear down the 1200 building is underway at this hour. You can see that crews here behind me are focusing much of their work right now on the third floor of the building where this shooting happened. Two white tents have been set up for the families to watch this process unfold.

As you noted, the 1200 building hasn't been touched since the mass shooting in 2018. It was preserved as a crime scene for the Parkland shooter trial. And in the past year, the family members have led a number of tours, these coordinated tours of the building with bipartisan members of Congress, the Secretary of Education was out here at one point, even Vice President Kamala Harris, all of it really in an effort to try and pass school safety measures both at the state and federal level.

Now after the mass shooting in 2018, Florida passed a number of laws including red flag laws, which allow a judge to temporarily remove a weapon from someone deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. And they also raise the age to purchase some weapons from 18 to 21. Here now is a Lori Alhadeff, the parents of one of the students killed, talking about what she would like to see done with the space here at the school.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORI ALHADEFF, MOTHER OF PARKLAND SHOOTING VICTIM ALYSSA 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 MSD legacy field where students can practice. There could be a teachable area where we can remember and keep the legacy alive of the 17.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUAREZ: All right, so the demolition process is expected to last several weeks. And the Broward County School District has not decided whether a permanent memorial is going to be built to honor the 17 victims. Kate? BOLDUAN: Carlos, thank you very much for being there. We're going to continue to watch this all happening quite a moment for the community and everyone there. Thank you very much. Sara?

[09:25:08]

SIDNER: Thank you, Kate.

Abortion activists are watching the Supreme Court this morning as another big case is looming involving abortions in emergency situations. Just yesterday, the justices upheld access to a commonly used abortion pill. CNN's Harry Enten, our chief data reporter is here with us. Harry, in the Court of Opinion, did the Supreme Court make the right ruling when it comes to the public's perception?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes, you know, this is a Supreme Court that previously obviously overturn Roe v. Wade. And that was very much an unpopular decision. Americans like abortion rights. So how the Supreme Court should rule on mifepristone keep current access? Look at this, 62 percent of Americans agreed with that Supreme Court ruling that came down yesterday, just 26 percent, in fact, would have wanted to limit access to mifepristone. And in this 62 percent, we're even including about one-third or a little bit more of Republicans.

So yesterday Supreme Court decision very popular in the minds of the public coming across -- coming after, of course, a Supreme Court ruling two years ago, which ended Roe v. Wade, which was very unpopular.

SIDNER: Unpopular. Yes. When it comes to the party and who they trust to deal with this particular issue of reproductive rights, what does that look like in the numbers?

ENTEN: Yes. You know, Democrats and Joe Biden would love, would love the 2024 election to be about abortion rights. Take a look here. Trust which party -- which party trust more on abortion? You know, you go back to July of 2020, Democrats are trusted more by 15 points. You jump ahead to May of 2024. You're pointing this out to me, Sara, it's the exact same number. And why is this so interesting to me, it's so interesting to me, because if you look across a bunch of other issues, whether it's the economy, or whether it's immigration, what you see is movement towards the Republican Party compared to four years ago.

Donald Trump, for instance, four years ago was trailing on immigration. Now he leads on against Joe Biden. But on abortion, you haven't seen that same movement. And I think that's in large part because of Roe v. Wade, which is lingering in the voters mind and access to abortion rights being quite popular. And voters of course associating abortion rights with the Democratic Party and limitations on abortion with the Republican Party.

SIDNER: The Biden campaign has really kind of pushed this in certain states, including Florida, some of the states that have sort of clamped down on this. So in the end, do you think this is an issue that will push people to the polls? ENTEN: Certainly more than four years ago, so this, to me says everything about how the politics around abortion have changed over the last four years. So abortion how people say that they'll vote. Look at 2020, would you vote for pro-choice candidates only was only 10 percent. In fact, slightly more Americans said they would vote only for pro-life candidates at 13 percent. Jump forward now to 2024. We see a completely different political environment.

Now 23 percent of Americans say they would vote for pro-choice candidates only. That's a jump of 13 percentage points more than double when we were four years ago, while the percentage of Americans who said that they would vote for only a pro-life candidate that has actually dropped from 13 percent now down to 8. Look at this 15 point advantage. So it's not just about preference, it's about import and how important it is to people's votes.

Again, Democrats and Joe Biden would love this election to be about abortion. That is something that drives folks to Democratic candidates. Of course, the question is, will it be about abortion? Not at this particular point, it looks to be more about the economy, but it will certainly be more about abortion than it was four years ago.

SIDNER: I am no data analyst like you. But when you look at these numbers, you can really see that this is probably because Roe versus Wade was overturned and no one imagined that would ever happen.

ENTEN: That's exactly right. Well, they should have imagined it because it didn't overturn.

SIDNER: Harry, thank you so much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

SIDNER: Appreciate it. Kate?

[09:28:43]

BOLDUAN: American journalist Evan Gershkovich has been wrongfully detained and jailed and Russia for more than a year. "The Wall Street Journal" reporter has now also been formally indicted and is headed to trial. How his loved ones are working to get him home?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)