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Woman Accuses Texas Pastor of Abusing Her; Kenichi Ballew- Haskett is Interviewed about the California Wildfires; Dechambeau Wins Title. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 17, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Trajectory of this campaign.

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

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: AXELROD: Well, that he plays the debate for history instead of for votes and extols his own accomplishments, which I think are substantial. But that is not where the minds of voters are right now. And they're thinking about their own situation and they're thinking about the future. And he needs to recognize that and, you know, just - both these guys have to not make this debate about themselves but about the American people and the future and the other guy. And, you know, we'll see if they can do that.

I think that, you know, we have a situation. We have to two least popular candidates in history. Scott said people want to fire Joe Biden, but they sure don't like Donald Trump. And so - and they don't like him for some of the reasons that he displayed in that first debate, as Scott mentioned. I just don't - they think he's self- absorbed. They think he's nasty. And if he's self-absorbed and nasty in this debate, that will be a problem for him.

BERMAN: I'm surprised. I don't think either of you have mentioned the word age yet.

David, first you, how will that play?

AXELROD: Well, obviously, I mean, you know, the - one of the tests, particularly for Biden, though Trump, you know, is nearly his age is, how does he hold up for the duration of this debate? Trump has done him a real favor by setting the bar so low that if Biden simply walks up to the podium and walks away upright, he will have, in some ways, won the debate. I think he should want to do more than that. But, obviously, people are going to be assessing their performances to see, you know, about Biden's stamina and about Trump's mental state.

BERMAN: Scott, age?

JENNINGS: Yes, I think that the bar is low for Biden because of people's observations of him over the last four - I don't think its Trump that set the bar low. I think people have already sort of decided he's not up to this. So, he does have a chance to jump over that bar. And so if you're Trump, you know, how do you - how do you help him along in not jumping over the bar and that's by letting him talk. I mean the problem with Biden in a lot of his public appearances is, the more he talks, the worse it gets. And so you have to have a little bit of discipline here to see if Biden can unspool in a way that would lead people to believe, yes, you know, I've been thinking he's not up to it and that was confirmed tonight.

For Trump you just don't want to misspeak constantly and let the narrative of the campaign be - of the night be something like, oh, you know, Trump misspoke more than Biden, or Trump, you know, mixed up names in the same way he says Biden does. You don't want the narrative to be like they both had problems. You want it to be squarely that you look better, more fit for office than Biden did.

BERMAN: Very quickly to both of you, what's the hardest part about debate prep with a candidate?

Scott, first, quickly to you.

JENNINGS: Well, I think with Trump it's that he's not a traditional candidate. I mean he's not someone I think who's going to be sitting in a room, going to a podium, practicing tactics to - I mean best I can tell they're having discussions and they talk about things that you might want to do. But he's a performer and he's not a politician. And so I think - think - when we talk about debate prep, you know, Axe and I are thinking about, how would you prepare a regular person or a regular politician. That - that's not Trump. And so all the tactical and, you know, policy stuff that we might kick around here as being smart debate prep, I doubt that's in the matrix for him. So, I think it's harder to prepare Trump. But at the same time, he's a TV person and so you He's got a good chance of using the TV to his advantage.

BERMAN: David.

AXELROD: It's avoiding the trap of trying to answer the questions in detail, but rather take the questions and repurpose them for your own message strategy. And, you know, a lot of candidates approach these things and they think, well, it's like a joint press conference. It is not. It is a performance where you have to land you lines. And those lines need to advance your strategy. And it takes time sometimes for candidates, particularly president who haven't debated in a while, to absorb that.

BERMAN: David Axelrod, Scott Jennings, thank you for being part of history. The first ever pre-debate analysis of the earliest ever general election debate, which will air in ten days.

AXELROD: I would - I would have worn a tie, John. I didn't know.

BERMAN: I know, I kind of -

AXELROD: I would have worn a tie if I had known that. BERMAN: Sometimes history gets sprung on you with no warning at all.

David Axelrod, Scott Jennings, thank you.

And, of course, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will moderate this first debate. It happens June 27th. That's next Thursday night. That is so soon. 9:00 Eastern Time.

Sara.

[09:35:01]

SIDNER: John Berman, you know how to make the people care, you know? You really get in there with them. It's good.

BERMAN: Well, the bell. It's the bell. I mean it's the sound effects. I found that sound effects make a difference.

SIDNER: I'm impressed. Isn't that from one of your runs?

BERMAN: Yes, I ended up in the hospital after that.

SIDNER: OK. All right. Well, we didn't have to tell the world -

BERMAN: Yes. All right.

SIDNER: But now, you know, marathon runner, everybody.

All right, coming up, nearly hurricanes force winds have been whipping up a wildfire that has already forced 1,200 people to evacuate. The latest on that California wildfire.

And, he was once a spiritual advisor to Donald Trump's campaigns. Now, a Dallas mega church pastor is admitting to moral failure after allegations of sexually abusing a 12-year-old child. That story ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:27]

SIDNER: A Texas mega church pastor and onetime spiritual adviser to Donald Trump's 2016 campaign now admitting to inappropriate sexual behavior with an underage girl. The allegations are against Pastor Robert Morris of Gateway Church in Dallas. His accuser, who is now in her 50s, says she was 12-years-old when the abuse began. She shared her story publicly with a blog on Friday, which led to the revelation.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is following this story for us.

What is the pastor saying?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the pastor did give a statement to CNN affiliate WFAA. We'll get to that in a moment.

But Robert Morris is the senior pastor at one of the most prominent mega churches here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas. And according to Cindy Clemishire, who spoke with "The Wartburg Watch," which is an evangelical church watchdog group, she details that back in the 1980s she was sexually molested by Robert Morris for almost five years. In a statement, the senior pastor, Morris, said that he - when I was, quote, "in my early 20s I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying. It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong. This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years." He also goes on to say that he was confronted by the family and went into what he described as freedom ministry and counseling for several years. And then he goes on to say that since that time I have walked in purity and accountability in this area.

It's important to point out that what the pastor describes as inappropriate sexual behavior is actually criminal sexual molestation of an underage girl who was 12 at the time and not able to give legal consent. And also he describes her as a young lady. We should point out that Cindy Clemishire was 12-years-old at the time.

She spoke with CNN affiliate WFAA about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY CLEMISHIRE, ACCUSED ROBERT MORRIS OF MOLESTING HER AS A CHILD: The story is gut-wrenching when I read it on paper. And I've been sharing for years. So, it just happens to be God's time I think for it to come to light.

He didn't come forward and confess. He was turned in. And when someone's turned in, what are they sorry for? Are they sorry because they got caught? Or are they truly repentant of what they did?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Robert Morris was a young, married pastor at the time in his early 20s at a different church from Gateway Church.

But Gateway Church also put out a statement saying, "Pastor Robert has been open and forthright about a moral failure he had over 35 years ago when he was in his 20s and prior to him starting at Gateway Church. He has shared publicly from the pulpit the proper biblical steps he took in his lengthy restoration process."

So, we understand that Robert Morris was not in the pulpit this weekend. The church had announced several years ago that his son would be taking over in the coming years.

We should also to point out that Robert Morris, as you mentioned, Sara, that he worked on the - was part of Donald Trump's evangelical executive committee back in 2016. In 2020, Robert Morris held a roundtable with Donald Trump at his church back in 2020. It's not clear if in - if he has any role with the current Trump campaign here in 2024. We have reached out to the campaign and are still waiting to hear back.

Sara. SIDNER: Ed, I'm really glad that you made the clarification that this

is not just a moral failure, this is potentially a criminal incident that happened with a 12-year-old girl that he is admitting something happened there when he would in his 20s. It would be completely and is against the law.

Thank you so much, Ed Lavandera, for your reporting on this. Appreciate it.

John.

BERMAN: All right, a raging wildfire outside Los Angeles. Nearly 15,000 acres have burned. High winds, low humidity making it difficult to contain.

With us now, section chief at the Los Angeles County Fire Department Kenichi Haskett.

Chief, thank you so much for being with us.

Chief, if you can hear me, what's the current status of this blaze?

KENICHI BALLEW-HASKETT, SECTION CHIEF, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT: Currently we're sitting at - luckily we've gone up from 2 percent to 8 percent containment, which is good because we're able to get more containment on it. We have over 1,000 firefighters here on scene and more firefighters are showing up today as we speak. But, unfortunately, we're dealing with those strong gusts of wind.

Some of the ridge top winds are up to 50 miles an hour. And that's making it challenging for our fire crews.

BERMAN: Our correspondent, Camila Bernal, was standing in the wind earlier this morning and getting blown around completely there.

[09:45:02]

What are the current conditions and what's the forecast over the next several hours?

BALLEW-HASKETT: Forecasts for the strong winds, as you guys saw, those will continue through this afternoon with a red flag warning into effect as the National Weather Service forecasts until about 5:00 p.m. today, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. today. So that's going to make it challenging for our crews. But we have over 369 engines here and 18 water tenders. And luckily we have plenty of aircraft that's going to help fight this fire.

BERMAN: What about population centers and people nearby? What are you telling people in the impacted area?

BALLEW-HASKETT: We've issued a warning for the Cascade (ph) Lake area. So that's a populated residential area. And that warnings were putting people on notice that if we have to issue a mandatory evacuation order, that they need to leave. So, having your bag packed, your cars ready to go, a full tank of gas and your cell phones handy. And then once sheriffs come by or law enforcement asks you to leave, that means the danger is eminent.

BERMAN: So, you've made some progress from 2 percent contained to 8 percent contained. The estimate of acres burned we had was 15,000.

BALLEW-HASKETT: Yes.

BERMAN: Where does that stand this morning?

BALLEW-HASKETT: We're still at 14,000. It was 14,625 acres. That did not change from last night, which is good. What did change is that containment. Containment is basically putting black line on a map and making sure we're certain at 100 percent where that line is black versus red that you will not have fire that will jump that black line.

So, we're saying the fire is out in that area.

BERMAN: Chief, can you -

BALLEW-HASKETT: So, it's basically in the north region of the fire where it started and -

BERMAN: Go ahead.

BALLEW-HASKETT: Can you hear me?

BERMAN: Yes, go ahead.

BALLEW-HASKETT: So, it's basically in the north part of the fire we're able to get some - some fire out in that area.

BERMAN: Great. Kenichi Haskett, we are glad that you have made some progress there. Obviously, the threat continues. We see you working. We're glad you are still on the job there. We'll get - let you get back to work. Keep us posted as to how things go.

BALLEW-HASKETT: OK. Thank you. All right.

BERMAN: All right, one of the most decorated swimming stars ever headed to her fourth Olympic games. Sara Sidner, right there, a great swimmer. She's a strong swimmer.

SIDNER: So is she.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:51:50]

SIDNER: It's a good jam.

BERMAN: Yes, it's - it's a jam.

SIDNER: It's a jam.

Bryson Dechambeau is waking up to a two-time U.S. Open title winner after barely beating out Rory McIlroy in a - McIlroy. Oh, don't kill me. BERMAN: It's OK. He's got other things to worry about this morning, trust me.

SIDNER: I'm thinking 10 - like it's thing - wow, I need to go.

CNN sports correspondent Carolyn Manno here with more. She will have her stuff together, unlike me.

Good morning.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I need to come to the studio more often. You guys are having way to much fun here.

BERMAN: See what happens.

MANNO: To John's point, Rory McIlroy, a miserable morning this morning. He's having way less fun than you guys are, unfortunately, after a collapse at Pinehurst that could potentially define his career. I mean this duel between him and Bryson Dechambeau was everything that golf fans could possibly want out of a major. He had a one stroke lead on the 16th green. He missed a 30 inch putt for par to drop back into a tie for the top spot. It's hard to watch.

And then more heartbreak on 18. Look at this, you guys. This is a putt for par inside of four feet, lipped out. Ended up with a bogey.

Bryson Dechambeau, you have to give him a ton of credit, having issues of his own on the final hole. This is his approach. Missed the fairway. Ended up in the sand, short of the green, leaving him with a completely blind shot at the pin. And the 30-year-old, who is called the scientist, coming up with what he called the shot of his life here, knocking the ball just feet away from the pin. He would sink that. He's now a two-time U.S. Open Champ.

The wind for him, exhilarating. As exhilarating as it was soul- crushing for McIlroy, who has now gone ten years and 37 tries since his last win at a major championship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU, 2024 U.S. OPEN CHAMPION: I am so happy I got that shot up and down on 18. Oh, man. I didn't want to finish second again. That bunker shot was the shot of my life. Those fans out there really helped push me out there today. Even though I hit in the bunker, the fans were still chanting my name. So, inspired me to get that one up and down. It's a dream come true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: Incredible.

BERMAN: It - I mean -

SIDNER: How cool.

BERMAN: It was incredible. Rory's always there on Sunday. I mean McIlroy is always there on Sunday. This time I thought he was going to do it.

MANNO: He could not peel out of the parking lot at Pinehurst fast enough. I mean McIlroy didn't talk to the media. You could just tell, weighing on him.

SIDNER: I get it.

MANNO: And I don't know, you know, how he's going to manage to come back from this.

BERMAN: I bet he comes back.

MANNO: Yes.

BERMAN: But I don't blame him. I don't blame him. What are you going to say at that point. What are you - what are you going to say?

MANNO: Yes.

BERMAN: All right, a big moment for one of America's biggest Olympians.

MANNO: Yes, Katie Ledecky. I mean she is not only arguably the greatest swimmer of all time, one of the greatest swimmers of all time. She is one of the greatest Olympians and she's going to continue that legacy in Paris, which is so much fun. The seven-time gold medalist qualifying for her fourth Olympic games. A first place finish in the 400 meter freestyle in which she will be a favorite to win gold again.

You could also say that American swimmer Gretchen Walsh had a pretty good weekend as well. She set a world records in the 100 meter butterfly in the semifinals at the U.S. Olympic trials on Saturday night. Pretty good. Really hard to do. And then followed that up by claiming a spot on Team USA on Sunday. This is her first trip to the games. She's 21. Swims for the University of Virginia. She's had a phenomenal career there. And afterwards she was able to celebrate with a very emotional hug from her big sister Alex, who was also a swimmer, also an Olympian, also competing in three events at the trials and trying to make it to Team USA too.

[09:55:08]

SIDNER: That's so (INAUDIBLE).

MANNO: So, fun family moment. Their dad came over. I just relaxed this weekend.

SIDNER: That is so -

MANNO: Yes, you know, I had a pretty lazy weekend, but then I look at stories like this with whole families were going to the Olympics and it's - it's pretty incredible to see.

BERMAN: You don't - you're not allowed to use a floaty. The thing is, with this kind of swimming, what always gets me is, like, oh, it looks OK, but like no raft.

SIDNER: You can't use floaties.

MANNO: Talk to Sara because as you detailed before the break, she is the pro. If you need tips, yes, go to Sara.

SIDNER: Here's the thing, the swimmers, you know, the University of Florida has this great swim team that's always been really good. Katie Ledecky is now a volunteer coach there. Sorry, Gators, I got to bring it up.

MANNO: Yes.

SIDNER: But they spend so much time in the pool. Like, they wake up 3:00 in the morning. They're jumping in - it is an impossible sport for me. Like, I don't have that kind of commitment.

MANNO: You are - you are so right. She's in the pool seven days a week down in Gainesville. And she's saying that maybe she could be faster than we've seen her be before.

SIDNER: Wow.

MANNO: Yes, she's incredible.

BERMAN: She's also super nice. We've had her on before.

SIDNER: Amazingly. That was great.

MANNO: Yes, lovely. Lovely.

BERMAN: All right, Carolyn Manno, great to see you. Thank you very much.

MANNO: Thank you.

SIDNER: And thank you for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Jim Acosta up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:00]