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California Wildfires Burn 15,000 Acres; New Biden Campaign Ad Targets Trump; Trump Meets with Johnson; Mass Shootings Leave 9 Dead; Maryland Governor Pardons Marijuana Convictions; Biden and Trump Wage Pre-Debate Duel. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 17, 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]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: T-minus ten days to history. The earliest general election debate ever. We have new reporting this morning on how the campaigns are getting ready.

And then evacuation near Los Angeles. Winds whipping our correspondent as firefighters race to get a fast-moving blaze under control.

Then, 175,000 marijuana convictions erased. One of the most sweeping pardons ever. New reporting on who it impacts this morning.

Kate is out. I'm John Berman, with Sara Sidner. And this is CNN NEW CENTRAL.

Happening now, a wildfire north of Los Angeles has consumed nearly 15,000 acres so far and has forced 1,200 people to evacuate, and it is on the move. The Post Fire, as it's called, is spreading due to ferocious high winds and dry conditions. And at last report it was barely contained at all.

CNN's Camila Bernal is live near Gorman, California.

Camila, what's the latest from where you are?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. So, the wind has died down a bit. You still see it in my hair, but not as dramatic as it was just a couple of hours ago. So, you know, this could be helpful for firefighters who are up against this, you know, just massive, massive fire. At the moment, we know there are crews both on the ground and in the air. What we were told from firefighters is that the goal right now is to create that fire line to avoid it from spreading even further.

Unfortunately, though, that wind earlier this morning, and in the overnight hours, was forecasted to be 60 to 70 miles an hour. And that was making it just very difficult for these firefighters. And difficult to keep the line. It's why you still have that 2 percent containment. We are waiting for an update from officials. But we saw the increase in the acreage, but we did not see any increase in containment. Again, still just at 2 percent. And it's part of the reason why you also had these evacuation, 1,200 people under evacuation orders, and more under evacuation warnings. Officials still telling people to be prepared, to have their belongings packed in case they have to leave at a moment's notice.

We're likely going to continue to see more win today. And, obviously, it's going to get hotter throughout the day. There's very low humidity and so all of that together is just fueling those flames as they continue to move. Right now we were told they were moving south of where we are.

So again, just officials telling people to be extremely careful because, unfortunately, you look behind me and you see just the damage of what a fire like this can do to the terrain. It just destroys everything in its path. And thankfully, you know, we have not seen too many structures destroyed with this fire. And so that's what they're trying to keep - the firefighters trying to prevent it from getting any worse, John.

BERMAN: I have to say, the conditions right where you are have improved considerably since we last saw you. People need to know, Camila was wearing goggles and the wind was just blowing her back-and- forth. We could barely hear you. Now things seem to have improved, at least where you are for the time being.

BERNAL: Yes.

BERMAN: Camila Bernal, thank you so much for being with us.

Want to get right to CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar for the latest on the forecast, where things stand around this.

What are you seeing?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right. I mean it's one of many fires. We're still looking at 30 active fires across the U.S. The focus, however, still is right on that Post Fire. You can see right here, just for frame of reference for folks who are not familiar with this particular area, again, just to the north and west side of Los Angeles. And as she mentioned, only 2 percent containment.

That concern is going forward. Look at the winds just over the weekend. This is why it was very difficult for them to contain that fire because a lot of these wind gusts in that 50 to 60 mile per hour range over the weekend were not really expecting much of an improvement in terms of the forecast. Most of these winds, again, 40, 50 miles per hour as we go throughout the day today.

Then we do finally start to see things calm back down. Once we get to say Wednesday of the upcoming week, but that's two days from now. So, the concern is, how much more is this fire really going to spread in the next 24 to 48 hours before we finally start to see some relief in the form of those winds going back down. That's why you can see not only that orange area there in California, but also some other areas of the southwest, where high winds, those low humidities, and the very warm temperatures are going to be a concern, at least not only today, but also in the next 48 hours as well.

BERMAN: All right, Allison Chinchar, thank you so much. Keep us posted on these conditions. Really appreciate it.

Sara.

SIDNER: We've got new details about the debate that's going to happen in just ten days. You know, the presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will be here on CNN.

[09:05:00]

This morning the Biden campaign is looking ahead to November. It's ramping up its attacks on Donald Trump with a new $50 million television ad pushed out across battleground states, digging into the former president's character and his recent felony conviction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the courtroom, we see Donald Trump for who he is. He's been convicted of 34 felonies, found liable for sexual assault, and he committed financial fraud.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden's been working.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN's Arlette Saenz is live from the White House.

This is probably the strongest attack that they have made so far against Donald Trump. Give us some sense of how this is all panning out.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, this is a significant new ad from the Biden campaign as it marks the first time that they're really using the former presidents' legal issues in their campaign advertisements. Now, this is all part of a new $50 million television and digital campaign push that the campaign is making just in the month of June. And it comes is Biden's team is really looking to sharpen their arguments in their attacks against Trump heading into that CNN debate in just ten days.

Now this campaign ad really tries to frame the election as a choice between a convicted criminal who is only out for himself, as the narrator puts it in the ad, and President Biden and the work that he is doing for the American people.

But it's also significant because for months the Biden campaign, the president, really refrained from using any of Trump's legal issues in their arguments against him. That all changed, though, in the days following his conviction in that New York City criminal hush money trial. The Biden campaign started painting Trump as a convicted felon. President Biden himself used that terminology in a fundraiser just a few days later. And now you have this full-throated attack from the Biden campaign against Trump when it relates to his criminal conviction.

Now, I'll also note, over the weekend it was interesting, President Biden was out in Los Angeles for a fundraiser that included Obama and some Hollywood stars. And First Lady Jill Biden, in her remarks, actually touched on some of the themes in this ad. She said that Trump is focused on giving himself absolute power and is not want - does not want to be held accountable for his criminal actions. So, it kind of shows how the campaign is starting to use his criminal conviction in its arguments.

Now, President Biden, in that fundraiser that brought in $30 million for Democrats - for his campaign, the largest Democratic fundraiser in history, the president and Obama also really sought to warn voters about what a second Trump term could hold. Biden really drilled in on the impact a Trump presidency could have on the Supreme Court, noting his prediction that there could be two Supreme Court appointments open up in the coming years. And so the president, in his remarks, also starkly criticized the court saying that it is more out of kilter today than it's ever been before.

All of this sharpening of the attacks against Trump comes as Biden is preparing to face off against him for the first time since their 2020 debates in just 10 days. President Biden tomorrow will be headlining a fundraiser with Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. And then towards the end of the week, he is heading out to Camp David, where he is expected to really drill in on his debate preparations.

The campaign is really hoping that they can paint Trump as this chaotic and divisive figure. And that is part of the push that they are making with this new ad campaign out today really in very start terms, frankly calling him a convicted criminal as they're trying to argue he is unfit to serve office.

SIDNER: Arlette Saenz there from the White House for us. Thank you so much.

John.

BERMAN: And just days after his return to Capitol Hill, Donald Trump is reuniting with two Republican leaders at Mar-a-Lago today. He is set to meet House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as the chair of the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee.

CNN's Lauren Fox is with us now.

What's the purpose of these meetings, Lauren?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, this is just an opportunity to get additional facetime with congressional leaders, get everyone on the same page. As we've been reporting, over the course of the last week, Donald Trump is really trying to unify the Republican Party in this moment, make sure that everyone knows the direction that they're going on, because so much of Donald Trump's presidency, if he were to win in November, hinges on whether or not House Republicans keep the House of Representatives and flip the United States Senate. It severely limits your agenda. Severely limits what you're able to do if you do not have those two chambers of Congress in your back pocket, able to help you and push through the legislation that you're campaigning on.

So, this is an opportunity to do that. It's also an opportunity for Speaker Mike Johnson to show conservatives once again that he is aligned with Donald Trump.

[09:10:05]

This is something that continues to be a question mark as we look forward to whether or not he has a future as the speaker again if the Republicans continue to keep the House of Representatives. You know, he's faced challenges from Marjorie Taylor Greene, who's made it clear repeatedly that she's not always thrilled with the direction that he is taking the party in. And it's true that Johnson and Donald Trump had not always seen eye-to-eye in every legislative agenda that he's pushing through, most notably pushing through about $60 billion in additional funding for Ukraine just a couple of months ago. That was something that Donald Trump wasn't exactly supportive of. But clearly the fact that they are meeting today, the fact that Donald Trump came to Capitol Hill last week and had kind words to say for Mike Johnson and behind closed doors meetings there, that all helps Mike Johnson in the future for whether or not he keeps the speakership moving forward.

John.

BERMAN: Lauren Fox for us in Washington. Lauren, great to see you.

So, new reporting on a terrifying shooting. Children shot while play at a Splash Pad.

And we are standing by to see one of the most sweeping pardons ever for marijuana convictions. More than 100,000 people will have their records swept clean.

And a woman says a Dallas mega church pastor molested her when she was 12. What did he admit to doing?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:58]

SIDNER: Over the weekend we saw a disturbing surge in gun violence with at least 14 reported mass shootings that lead to nine deaths and more than 70 injuries across multiple states. In Texas, a shooting during a Juneteenth celebration claimed two lives and injured at least 14 there. And authorities are currently trying to figure out what the motive was for a mass shooting that happened at a Splash Pad near Detroit that left at least nine people injured, including some young children.

Joining me now is CNN's Rafael Romo.

What do we know about all these different shootings all happening separately from one another, but, man, 14 mass shootings in one weekend. It is an awful number. RAFAELL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sara, it's horrible. And let me tell you, there's been so many that it's been hard trying to keep track of all of them. But let me begin with the one you were talking about before, the one in Texas. According to police, it happened when a fight between two groups broke out at a Juneteenth festival in Round Rock, not quite 20 miles north of Austin. The shooting happened just before 11:00 Saturday night at Old Settlers Park at the event organized by the city.

Round Rock Police Chief Allen Banks said that during the altercation, someone produced a gun and began to fire, adding that police and fire rescue crews who already were at the scene immediately responded and began to render aid to the victims. Fourteen people were injured, including six were transported to nearby hospitals. There were two children among them. According to Chief Banks, the two people who died were not part of the altercation.

Apparently we don't have the audio from the chief, but he said that it just breaks your heart for a family coming out to enjoy their evening and now their life is forever changed. So, a lot of people very sad, very disappointed.

And now, Sara, only hours earlier, on Saturday afternoon, there was another mass shooting in Rochester Hills, Michigan. It'll happen Saturday at a Splash Pad in the city, located less than 30 miles north of Detroit, as families were enjoying a pleasant afternoon. The suspect got out of his car, walked up to the Splash Pad and opened fire when he was about 20 feet away. This is how a witness described it.

We don't have the audio either, but let me tell you, this new tragedy, Sara, has hit Michigan especially hard. The community is still reeling from two other mass shootings last year. In February, a gunman killed three Michigan State University students and left five others critically injured. And in 2021, a teenager killed four students at a high school in Oxford, just 15 miles north of Rochester Hills. According to the Gun Violence Archive, and we were talking about this at the beginning, there were at least 14 mass shootings this weekend in the United States that left nine people dead, and over 70 others wounded from Ohio to Massachusetts.

Just horrible, Sara.

SIDNER: It really is. And the thought about the Splash Pad, where kids are just going to have fun. It's a nice place to go during the summer. They'll be scarred for life from this, whether they were hit or not. Just totally tragic.

Thank you so much, Rafael Romo, for all the reporting there.

John.

BERMAN: All right, moments from now, Maryland's Governor Wes Moore will issue a mass pardon for people convicted of low-level marijuana charges.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is tracking this. He is with us now.

Polo, 175,000 criminal convictions.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And so I just listened to some of the governor's administration officials right now, gave us some of the specifics. But first, let me just set it up with kind of the reasoning behind this. In a state where possession of small amounts of marijuana, the use for people 21 and up of recreation marijuana has been legal for - since 2022. Then why should people with these low level marijuana offenses and convictions on their record have to deal with the legal consequences. So, that's really the overarching question now.

[09:20:00]

But when you hear from the governor, as we'll hear from him in a few moments, he would argue that it's more about that. He has said, leading up to today, that he - it is his hope that this will begin to heal decades of not just social but also economic injustice that is disproportionately harming minorities, mainly black and brown people. That it's been hampering their ability to secure things like education, housing, employment as well.

And so in terms of the specifics that I heard just a short while ago from the governor's office, we do expect that, as you mentioned, about 175,000 convictions would be pardoned. Now, that does not necessarily mean 100,000 people. Some of these individuals may be the recipient of more than one pardon. So, the number that they're working with right now at the governance here's office is about 100,000 individuals. But again, that's the number of convictions that would potentially stand to be pardoned.

Important to point out, felony convictions not included here. Also, this is not an expungement. This wouldn't essentially clear them of - or at least clear their record of that. It simply forgives people of the legal consequences that they face for being convicted of these low-level marijuana possession.

This will not result in any releases - in any released from jail. In fact, I heard from an administration official saying right now quite confidently that they don't have anybody incarcerated for any misdemeanor possession, especially since 2022.

But just the overarching also sentiment throughout the country. We have seen in Gallup polling that roughly 70 percent of Americans who were surveyed approve or at least support legalization of marijuana. That number up from about 50 percent some ten years ago. So that's certainly indicative of where the nations stands when it comes to some of these low-level convictions.

Now, in terms of the positive effects here, John, they're very difficult to quantify. That's because they don't keep a database of people who perhaps have been denied a job when a background check revealed this misdemeanor conviction. However, moving forward, recipients of some of these pardons will be able to print out their electronic - their electronic record and then provided it to potential landlords, potential employers, because that pardon, the administration argues, goes a very long way when trying to secure these opportunities, especially for black and brown people.

BERMAN: A sea-change in policy and certainly something that will change a lot of people's lives.

SANDOVAL: Absolutely.

BERMAN: Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

SANDOVAL: Thank you.

BERMAN: New details about the format for the CNN presidential debate, which is now just ten days away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:26:57]

BERMAN: We have new details this morning about the earliest general election debate in U.S. history right here on CNN. Ten days from now. Both campaigns have agreed to these stipulations. It will take place in a studio, a television studio. No live studio audience. There will be two commercial breaks. During those breaks, campaign staff will not be allowed to interact with the candidates at all. The candidates will stand at identical podiums. A coin flip will determine their positions. And finally, the candidates' microphones will be muted except when it is their turn to speak.

With us now, CNN's senior political commentators David Axelrod and Scott Jennings.

And, gentlemen, with just ten days to go, I would like to declare that this is the first CNN morning show debate preview. I'm ring a bell right there so that makes it official. So, welcome. Welcome to our pre-debate analysis.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you. I'm honored.

BERMAN: David, let me start with you.

AXELROD: Yes.

BERMAN: President Biden -

AXELROD: Yes.

BERMAN: What is the one thing he needs to achieve at this debate?

AXELROD: I think he has to prosecute his case against - his political case against Donald Trump and not get bogged down as incumbents often do, John, in the first debate in great detail in defending his record. He needs to be on the offense and create a comparative. And the case against Trump, they're beginning to make, which is, he's for him, I'm for you. And he needs to throw that into a future tense of what he would do, what Trump would do, and give people who are on the fence here, and there are people on the fence who don't like either of them, something to think about.

BERMAN: Scott Jennings, to you. What's the one thing that Donald Trump needs to do at this debate?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, he needs to avoid the disaster that was the first debate of 2020 where Trump really saw the last possibilities of his winning the election go away. So, being under control, staying over the target and not re-litigating the 2020 election but litigating the circumstances of the American people right now. They've already decided to fire Joe Biden. He's got a 38 percent approval rating. They've not yet quite decided whether to rehire Donald Trump. But if he avoids sort of being too aggressive and he stays over the target of these issues, like inflation and immigration, he's got a really good chance to come out in this debate a little bit better than he is today, which is already slightly ahead.

BERMAN: So, I was going to ask you, you say he needs to avoid being aggressive. I was going to ask you, Scott, what the biggest risk is for Donald Trump. Is that it?

JENNINGS: Yes, the biggest risk is being overly aggressive, getting bogged down in things that aren't what is on the minds of the American people. And what he - the reason he's winning is because of inflation. The reason he's winning is because of immigration. And the reason he's winning is because people have grave doubts about Joe Biden's ability to serve another term.

So, you have to keep the debate on those grounds. If you willingly wander off into some other area, it could be a bad night for you and give Biden what he needs, which is a change in trajectory of this campaign.

[09:30:02]

BERMAN: And, David, to that end, what is the biggest risk for President Biden?