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Triple Threat: High Heat, Wildfires and Tropical Storm in U.S.; Supreme Court to Rule on January 6 Riot Obstruction Charges; Baseball Legend Willie Mays Dies at Age 93. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 19, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Right now, Americans are facing a vicious triple threat with fast moving wildfires in New Mexico, a dangerous heat wave that is smothering part of the Midwest and the Northeast, and then a tropical storm conditions that are intensifying in southern Texas. New CNN video showing extensive fire damage in Ruidoso, New Mexico. Two wildfires that are 0 percent contained have scorched more than 20,000 acres.

And a short time ago, police confirmed that a man who died in the wildfires has been identified as 60 year old Patrick Pearson. His daughter says that her dad was ready to evacuate but could not because of a broken leg. And local officials say about 8,000 people so far have evacuated.

We have meteorologist Chad Myers with us. Chad, what is the latest forecast for this area?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the winds aren't too bad right now, but the problem is we are in one of the worst drought situations over the entire country. We are now in that extreme to almost severe drought, and this is the problem where the ground is so dry and the land is dry, the brush is obviously now basically crisp, and now we're starting these fires. This is the issue.

We will get a wind shift later on tonight with a little bit of the moisture from Tropical Storm Alberto actually makes it all the way to New Mexico, but that wind shift is going to push the fan and fires in the wrong direction back toward the firefighters, so that is always a danger, but if you push it back on land that has always burned, it already burned, that's some good news. Now there will be obviously smoke in the forecast, and that's going to be I think the forecast for the next few days until they get this out. Right now with 0 percent containment, that's a problem.

Across the east, talk about the heat dome, it's still here. It's like closing your windows and shutting the car up and parking in the sun. We are just baking the ground here.

Temperatures are very warm, all the way up to Maine, where the heat index is over a hundred. Look at Syracuse, feeling like 103 right now. So the main bulk of the heat is now in the Great Lakes, tomorrow farther to the northeast and into New England. This is going to be a much anticipated cool down for Boston, as we see for now, heat warnings all the way into Maine, but look at Boston by Saturday, 70. Nope, not for you DC, 99 for your weekend. And that's the air temperature in the shade.

You stand in the sunshine and feel the humidity, it'll feel warmer than that -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, that's right. You said your cilantro bit the dust, well I've been trying to revive my basil and that is the least of our problems here in DC. What can you tell us about the tropical storm that we're keeping an eye on, Alberto, the first named storm of the hurricane season?

MYERS: Right, at the 11 o'clock advisory it did get a name, it finally now has enough convection around the center to get to be a tropical storm. It was a potential tropical cyclone for so very long, kind of like waiting, it's like, is it really going to get there? But we knew it would make rainfall and that rain is now into parts of Texas and Mexico.

Ironically, in the places that we saw Rosa Flores do all these stories the past couple of weeks about the water wars between Texas and Mexico, now we have flood watches in effect for that area and likely flood warnings. Some of the areas in Mexico, northern Mexico, may pick up 10 inches of rain as this very slow-moving storm. Not going to be a hurricane, not going to gather any strength anymore, but it's just going to take that Gulf moisture and make very heavy rainfall in places that need it.

Obviously, South Texas needs the rain desperately, just need to kind of spread it out a little bit. Looks like four to six inches in many areas, I think that's going to be really the rule. It's just these purple areas here in parts of Mexico, that's greater than 10 inches in 48 hours. That's a lot of rain in a place that's already parched.

KEILAR: Yes, they need it. They don't need it that quickly. That's part of the issue here.

MYERS: Exactly.

KEILAR: Yes, Chad, thank you so much. We really appreciate all the updates.

And coming up next, the Supreme Court is gearing up to decide if a key charge against January 6th rioters is legally sound. So what is at stake? We'll have that ahead.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: So the Supreme Court could rule tomorrow on a case that could impact the prosecution of hundreds of people involved in the January 6th Capitol riot. The question is whether a federal obstruction law originally aimed at fighting corporate fraud can be used against these rioters.

KEILAR: Critics argue the charge, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years behind bars, was never meant for insurrectionists. We have CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams here with us to talk a little bit more about it. So this is a case that was brought by a former Pennsylvania police officer who was charged with multiple crimes on January 6th. Walk us through the arguments on both sides.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: OK, so this is one of those areas where common sense is like, is he guilty or not?

[15:40:00]

But lawyers have stepped in and are going to gum it up a little bit. It's complicated.

So the law he's charged with, and frankly Donald Trump is charged with as well, says whoever corruptly, that's an important word, obstructs, influences, or impedes an official proceeding. Now the question is, how do we read the word corruptly? And how do we read a word that appears elsewhere in there otherwise?

And those are really what the Supreme Court is picking apart here. The question is, and you talked about this a little bit, back when this was written, it was in the context of Sarbanes-Oxley, the financial fraud law, many years ago. And the question was, is this just about tearing up evidence and tampering with evidence, or rioting and obstructing an official proceeding? And how does the court read it?

Now, the argument is that, and this is the argument that the defendant's pushing, that the prosecutors are pushing too far here and stretching the law far beyond where it intended to be.

SANCHEZ: Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked one of the litigators in this case why the laws that were already on the books for things like assault weren't enough, because it's really only about 50 rioters that were only really charged with this.

WILLIAMS: Right. Now, there's a few different answers to that. Well, this wasn't an act of assault. If prosecutors are charging the act of getting in the way of Congress when they were counting ballots, that's not assault, that's obstructing an official proceeding.

And common sense -- and this is what the Justice Department is arguing -- common sense would dictate that, well, they obstructed the proceeding. It doesn't matter that the law itself was written only for financial crimes, you know, read the language.

Otherwise, it obstructs, influences, or impedes. And so that's where the Justice Department's going with this.

KEILAR: So 50 people have been convicted of, right, and sentenced for only obstruction. If the Supreme Court finds in favor of Joseph Fisher here, then what happens with these convictions?

WILLIAMS: They could -- now, the problem is that each of these people might have been convicted of different crimes. Now, if the law is overturned, these convictions could be thrown out on that specific charge.

Now, all the other things that these people were convicted of, if they were charged with assault, or trespass, or any of the other things, could go away. But it's an important case for that, for that reason, Brianna.

SANCHEZ: How does this potentially impact former President Trump's case? Because as you noted, he's also being charged with this.

WILLIAMS: Right, absolutely. So he's charged with a few other things as well. Conspiracy against the United States being the big one.

Conspiracy against rights, a civil rights charge. But this could make his particular charge for obstructing an official proceeding go away. I mean, it could be tossed out.

Now, it's just not clear where the Supreme Court's going to land on this. Like I started by saying it's one of those lawyerly, depends on what the definition of is, is. And the Supreme Court is going to write an opinion on the definition of the word corruptly, or the definition of the word otherwise. It's just confusing in that sense.

KEILAR: And just really quickly, we're waiting on immunity. How do you think the court's handling these two things together?

WILLIAMS: I don't know how they're handling them together. My guess is that the Supreme Court sends the immunity case back to the district court, the trial court, to issue more rulings about it. It'll take more time.

But the Supreme Court loves to do that, not make a decision, make the lower guys deal with it.

KEILAR: I love deciding by not deciding.

WILLIAMS: Deciding by not deciding.

KEILAR: It is a decision to not decide, by the way. Elliot Williams, thank you so much.

All right, I want to turn now to a significant moment yesterday on Capitol Hill. While testifying in front of senators, the outgoing chief of the National Guard, General Daniel Hokanson, criticized the deployment of U.S. troops to the southern border, which has happened under both the Biden and Trump administrations. Here was the moment.

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GEN. DANIEL R. HOKANSON, CHIEF, NATIONAL GUARD: There is no military training value for what we do. This is a law enforcement mission under the Department of Homeland Security.

I know that we're providing additional support along there. But for our guardsmen there, they might as well be deployed to Kuwait or somewhere overseas because they're away from their families. They're doing mission sets that are not directly applicable to their military skill set. And so it increases their personal operational tempo.

And that time, I think, would be better utilized building readiness to deter our adversaries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: General Hokanson testified that there are about 2,500 part- time troops currently stationed at the southern border serving under the U.S. Northern Command.

And still ahead, one of the greatest players ever to put on a major league uniform. The Say Hey Kid, Willie Mays, passing away at the age of 93. How he inspired generations of players and fans next.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a long drive way back in center field. Way back, back! It is -- oh, what a catch by Mays!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The baseball world is mourning the legend who made that impossible catch during the 1954 World Series. Willie Mays has died at the age of 93.

SANCHEZ: He's widely considered one of the game's all-time greats, and he electrified crowds with both his bat and glove, earning 24 all-star appearances during his incredible career.

We want to bring in baseball historian James Brunson to discuss. James, thank you so much for being with us. What was it that made Willie Mays so special?

JAMES BRUNSON III, BASEBALL HISTORIAN: I was born and raised on Chicago's South Side, Bronzeville neighborhood, and like many other kids in the 1960s, we played organized baseball, both Little League and Pony League.

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And the team that I played on, which was fascinating, a very good team, the things that made it interesting for us is that half of our team was Chicago Cub fans and half of the team was Chicago White Sox fans. Needless to say, my birthright being on the South Side is a Chicago White Sox fan.

In that same token, whenever the San Francisco Giants came to Chicago to play in Wrigley Field, we made certain that we made our journey in that direction. Willie Mays' impact on me was in multiple ways, one of those being the

fact that he had power, he could hit home runs, but he also had amazing speed. He was like an antelope when we saw him grace Wrigley Field's green ivy.

Another thing that fascinated me about him at the time, looking back on it, but didn't know it, he was an emblem of our young manhood at the time.

KEILAR: Yes, I think that's so fascinating, and I think listening to the Willie Mays fans today, and for you, I imagine this is true as well, that it is bringing back memories of how it made you feel to watch him. Tell us about how it made you feel.

BRUNSON III: Well, again, seeing him play in person at Wrigley Field, one of the things that stuck out to me was his skill, not only in the outfield playing in center field, but how he made it look so easy. And one of the things that always stuck with me, and it certainly stuck with my childhood friends when we played baseball, was that amazing basket catch. And man, when we would leave that ballpark and go back home, we went right out to the ball field and became even reinvigorated with the level of talent and skill that he displayed out there on the field.

SANCHEZ: The degree of difficulty on that catch, essentially a no-look catch right in front of him. I mean, it's historic, right? And that's why we keep playing the clip.

I want to play another clip for you. This is Willie Mays talking to Larry King on CNN in 1988 about a moment in his life where he faced prejudice. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIE MAYS, BASEBALL LEGEND: The only town I had a problem with was Hagerstown, Maryland. I had a very, very problem. I started on a Friday afternoon, and they called me all kinds of names there. But by Sunday, they was all clapping because I just killed everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: It's so funny the way that he describes that, James. What do you make of Willie Mays' legacy outside of the baseball diamond?

BRUNSON III: Well, one of the things that stands out again to me, and I'm sure you all are well aware of this incident, the infamous incident when the San Francisco Giants played the Dodgers and Juan Marichal got into a tiff with John Roseboro. And the thing that stuck out to me about that was the compassion that Willie Mays had. Immediately after that incident, he helped to escort Roseboro to the locker room so that he could be taken care of.

And I thought, and I still look back on that as this is one great human being right here. He could be a competitor, but at the same time, he was compassionate, and he was a human being. KEILAR: Yes, and I think that's what everyone's sort of missing today and is on their minds. He began with the Birmingham Black Barons when he was still in school. He wound up playing most of his career, of course, with the New York and then the San Francisco Giants.

Just put into perspective what that rise through baseball would have been like at the time.

BRUNSON III: Well, I suspect it would have been grueling, but based on what we know collectively about the major leagues at the time, this guy had to demonstrate not only a level of skill, a level of confidence, but he also had to have this understanding that he had to be resilient at all times. Because I'm sure as he traveled across the country playing in various baseball stadiums, there was probably some level of hostility toward him early on, but he won them over just as Leo Durocher pointed out that this guy was going to be one of the great ballplayers of all time.

SANCHEZ: Absolutely, and James just want to point out he's wearing that jersey. James Brunson, we appreciate the time, sir. Thanks so much for being with us.

[15:55:00]

BRUNSON III: Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Stay with CNN, we're back in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: That is Blackpink, one of the most popular Korean pop bands. Brianna's favorite, obviously.

KEILAR: Your favorite.

SANCHEZ: The K-pop genre has drawn a massive global following. And now South Korea is hoping that all that interest might help boost its lagging tourism industry.

KEILAR: The country's launching a new visa program that will allow tourists to train in dancing, choreography, and fashion modeling just like a real K-pop star.

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So for context, South Korea's tourists to train in dancing, choreography, and fashion modeling just like a real K-pop star. So for context, South Korea's tourism revenue generated $15.1 billion in 2023 compared to $20 billion in 2019. And officials say that K-pop is the most cited reason for tourists who are visiting the country.

SANCHEZ: I don't know anything about K-pop, but I just found out BTS is taking a break, which is a tragedy.

KEILAR: It's really sad. It's a total tragedy.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Jake Tapper loves K-pop, and "THE LEAD" starts right now.