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Hearing in Trump Classified Documents Case; Trump Outraises Biden; A dangerous Heave wave Hits Midwest and Northeast; Heat Trends and Global Warming Concerns; Trump and Biden Prepare for Debate. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 21, 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]

SIMON AN, HOUSTON-AREA TAE KWON DO ATHLETE: His hand over her mouth.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: OK. And he intervenes at that point.

Tell me about the intervention. Was it -- did you use some of the Tae Kwon Do that you all are experts in and ever thought that you would have to use that in a situation like this?

AN: Just our first instincts were to just save the girl. I mean the man was on top of her, hands covered. We didn't even know what he was going to do to her. So our just first instinct was just -- my dad just pulled him off and pinned him in the corner of the building.

SIDNER: I understand that your father got injured in all this. How's he -- how's he doing?

AN: Can you repeat the question, please?

SIDNER: Sure. I was asking how your father is doing today because I understand that he may have gotten injured during all of this.

AN: Yes. My father, yes, he did get scratched. He did get bit. But he is fine right now, yes, ma'am.

SIDNER: Well, I am sure that the young lady that he helped saved is so, so thankful this morning. And thank you for coming on and telling this story. I appreciate you.

All right, a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we're standing by as a new hearing in Donald Trump's classified documents case is about to get underway. Could we see Jack Smith blocked from prosecuting the former president? We're live outside the Florida courthouse.

And new numbers from Border Patrol show a drastic drop, 25 percent, in migrant arrests at the southern border. What these new numbers suggest about Biden's asylum restrictions with the presidential debate less than a week away. Plus, summer is already off to a dangerous hot start, if you haven't already felt it. As a record breaking heatwave burns its way across the country, we're going to tell you what this means for 100 million Americans at risk this weekend.

I'm Omar Jimenez, with Sara Sidner. Kate and John are out today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SIDNER: In just a bit here, Donald Trump's latest, long-shot attempt to get his classified documents charges dropped, and get special counsel Jack Smith removed from the case. We'll get it today in federal court. Minutes from now a hearing is expected to begin as new reporting from "The New York Times" now reveals two federal judges, peers of Judge Aileen Cannon, personally advised her to step down from the classified documents case last year for a myriad of reasons.

CNN's Evan Perez is live outside the court in Fort Pierce, Florida.

We know Donald Trump won't be in court today. Can you tell us, though, what is about to happen there in court, in this particular hearing?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, good morning.

This is an unusual hearing for a couple of reasons. First of all, the defendant, Donald Trump, is trying to get this case tossed. He says that Jack Smith, the special council, was not lawfully appointed under the terms of the Constitution. And so the argument here is that the -- what he's saying is that the -- the fact that Jack Smith is not someone who was -- who was confirmed by the Senate means that these charges should be tossed out.

Now, what's also unusual about this case is that the judge is having a hearing at all. This is a -- this is a kind of argument that has gone nowhere for a lot of defendants around the country, including, of course, Hunter Biden, who tried it twice with judges in California and with Delaware. And so we'll see what we hear in court today.

What's also unusual is that Judge Aileen Cannon is allowing outside groups to also present arguments at this hearing. So we're going to have several hours of outside groups, including a right leading conservative legal group that is joining the former president in this argument saying that Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed and that these charges should be tossed out.

We're also going to hear from a group on the left who is supporting the special counsel. So, it's very unusual, you know, for even -- for a hearing like this to even happen. A lot of times these judges just have these arguments filed with paperwork and they toss them aside. But the Supreme Court has upheld the appointment of special counsels in the past. So, the fact that we're having this hearing at all makes this unusual.

And the other thing is, we now have -- this is the first of three days of hearings that Judge Cannon has called. On Monday we're going to have a hearing on the requests from the special council for a gag order on the former president. Some of his comments about the Mar-a- Lago search, according to the special counsel, have posed a danger to the safety of the FBI agents who were involved.

[09:05:03]

And so we'll hear that on Monday.

And we also have another hearing on Tuesday where he's trying to toss some of the evidence that was seized during that search, Sara.

SIDNER: Evan Perez, thank you so much for your reporting there outside of the court where this hearing is about to get underway.

Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right, a big financial boost for the Trump campaign this morning. For the second month in a row, Donald Trump outraised President Biden. Now, Trump took in a staggering $141 million in May. That's thanks in part to a cash infusion after Trump's criminal conviction in the hush money trial.

Now, Biden and the Democratic Party raised more than $85 million last month. So we're talking about a lot of money on both sides.

CNN's Steve Contorno and Kevin Liptak joins us now.

All right, Steve, I want to start with you. I mean how significant is this number that we're hearing out of the Trump campaign?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, the Trump campaign contends it's very significant. Remember, Biden had a fundraising advantage throughout most of the spring. And they believe that these criminal convictions, which have led to a rush of cash into their campaign coffers, have allowed them to catch up to that disadvantage.

And it's not just the $141 million coming into the campaign. A pro- Trump super PAC also reported their monthly figures yesterday. They said that they receive $68 million in May and that was largely made up of three contributions from billionaires. One of which was $50 million from a banking heir named Timothy Mellon.

Now, interestingly, that individual previously gave $25 million to RFJ Jr.'s campaign. However, ever since the conviction, he decided to give $50 million to President Trump's super PAC. And this super PAC is planning a advertising blitz in several key swing states, helping to carry the -- Trump's message from this debate into those swing states throughout the summer.

And interestingly, heading into this debate, we've seen some expectations resetting from Donald Trump. Him and his campaign, his allies, they have repeatedly been trying to cast Biden as too old and feeble for the job.

Well, listen to what he had to say yesterday about what he expects to hear from President Biden on the debate stage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I was never a fan of his. But I will say, he beat -- he beat Paul Ryan -- it was still years ago, but he beat Paul Ryan pretty badly. And I assume he's going to be somebody that will be a worthy debater. Yes, I would say. I think --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

TRUMP: I don't want to underestimate him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now that Paul Ryan debate he was talking about was the vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan back in 2012. So clearly Trump is making himself familiar with Biden's past performances as he gets ready for this next debate.

JIMENEZ: And a little bit of a different tune than I think what his campaign has tried to portray President Biden as. Maybe to get ahead of expectations, but we'll see. We'll leave that -- leave that to the politics folks.

Kevin, I want to bring you in here because, look, President Biden, until now, as Steve was talking about, has had a fundraising advantage for much of the spring, but also right now there is a distinction between cash on hand versus how much was actually raised. So, what -- what are you looking at in these numbers? What do these numbers tell us?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, there's no question that the fundraising advantage was one of the bright spots for the Biden campaign. But I think when you talked to officials, it had always been the expectation that former President Trump would be able to narrow that gap once he secured the GOP nomination and he was able to bring in some of those huge checks that Biden was bringing in. And you do see that reflected in this month's numbers. The president raising $85 million in May. That is up from last month, but certainly it is smaller than what President Trump was able to raise. And it's the second straight month that Trump was able to outraised Biden.

What the campaign is pointing to is the cash on hand, the overall war chest. They have $212 million on hand. That's the largest amount for any Democratic presidential candidate at this point in the cycle. What they argue is that that early advantage allowed them to make the investments in the battleground states that they think will put them on solid footing heading into the fall. Just yesterday they said they announced -- they hired the 100 or the 1,000th staffer on the campaign. They have been up on the airwaves. These investments of tens of millions of dollars in television advertising. And so you do see the campaign really trying to put that infrastructure down. And certainly just this month alone you have seen President Biden start to re-step up the fundraising. He's raised $40 million about just in the last week alone between two events, one in Los Angeles and one in Virginia. And so you do see the money still coming in. Now, today, President Biden is waking up at Camp David. He is beginning this intensive stretch of debate preparation. We do expect it to begin somewhat informally at the beginning, talking with his advisors about potential questions, potential answers.

[09:10:04]

Eventually that will culminate in these mock debates that he will run through before next Thursday.

Now, we did see him as he was heading off there to western Maryland last night. He was asked how the debate prep was going and he gave a thumbs up. So certainly he's feeling pretty good today. The real question is how he's feeling about a week from today as he heads into this debate.

JIMENEZ: Yes, less than a week to go until that debate.

Before -- before we go, and it's a topic that will likely come up, is immigration. And we've seen a pair of action from President Biden over the course of the past two months really at this point on that front. But now we're actually getting some data maybe over how some of these policies are working. What are we learning from Customs and Border Protection?

LIPTAK: Yes, we're learning these new numbers about arrests of migrants crossing the border illegally. And what they show is a steady decrease over the last several months. So, we have numbers for May. It was down 9 percent in May. But perhaps most significantly is the amount it has decreased since President Biden announced some new rules on asylum about two weeks ago. CBP says the numbers are down about 25 percent since the president announced that action.

What he did was essentially allow himself to close the border down to asylum seekers when the numbers reach a certain level, 2,500 per day. The level was well -- well above that when the president announced it. So, this did go into effect almost immediately.

I think these numbers will be welcome at the White House, which has so long been trying to neutralize this issue of immigration, trying to show that the president has a handle on what's going on, on the southern border. This is an issue for sure -- certain he's very vulnerable on politically.

Now, there are a number of reasons why these numbers would fluctuate. Principally, some of the conditions in the home countries of these people who are trying to reach the United States. But certainly I think this is an indication that some of the steps that the president has taken are starting to take effect.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

Kevin, Steve, appreciate you both, as always. Thanks for being here.

Sara. SIDNER: All right, scorched earth. More than 100 million Americans under heat alerts as a sweltering heat wave continues across the country.

And the Texas woman who became a symbol of abortion rights is celebrating a new pregnancy. And Kate Cox telling CNN why she is incredibly happy, but this is also an extremely scary time for her family.

And your next Amazon delivery might look a little greener. What is changing in those Prime packages. That is all ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:16]

SIDNER: On this first official full day of summer, 100 million Americans plus from coast-to-coast under heat alerts and a sweltering heat wave stretching from the Midwest to Maine is setting records now. Washington, D.C., set to hit 100 degrees for the first time in almost a decade, in eight years.

Here's one way to beat the heat. A group of senior citizens in Tennessee enjoyed a slip and slide on Thursday. And residents at the Adam's Place (ph) senior living center said it made them feel like children again.

Let's go back with CNN's Athena Jones. We checked in with you around 7:30 or so. You said things were OK. We're still quite early. How is it feeling now?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Sara.

I'm still not high yet. It's in the low 80s. Until a few minutes ago I had goosebumps from standing in the shade and the cool breeze. But that is going to changed quite a bit. We see some people behind us beginning to enjoy what we expect to be a pretty heavily trafficked area as it gets hotter here. As you mentioned, the 8 million people in New York are among the more than 100 million people facing a heat alert. Fifty record highs could be set across the country between now and the end of the weekend. Temperatures in the Ohio Valley and Mid- Atlantic region are ten to 15 degrees above normal. And weekend temperatures in the Midwest and Northeast could exceed 100 degrees.

As you mentioned, D.C. could see its first 100-degree day since August of 2016 on Saturday. Officials there have extended the heat -- heat emergency plan, telling people to take precautions, make sure you're checking on seniors and those who are vulnerable. Make sure you stay inside at the hottest hours of the day.

Here in New York, the heat index is expected to be up to and even exceeding 100 degrees today. Much of this area is going to be under a heat advisory through the weekend.

And New York could see a June record for a heat wave. Seven consecutive days with temperatures at 90 degrees or above. If that happens, it will tie the longest stretch in a decade. And it would be the longest heatwave in June ever.

If you're counting, we're on day two right now. The bottom line here, though, is that this is dangerous. This is why D.C. and New York opening cooling centers. Hundreds of cooling centers will be open here in New York so that people, especially the most at risk, older people, people without -- without air conditioning and people with health conditions will be able to take refuge in cooling centers and shelters in order to try to beat this heat.

Sara.

SIDNER: That was crazy to me to see that Maine was going to get up to 96 degrees. Maine. It tells you a lot about what's going on in this very second day of official summer.

Appreciate it. Thank you.

Omar.

JIMENEZ: Look, it's hot. We are talking D.C. expected to see around 100 degrees as we just heard a little bit of from Athena.

[09:20:07]

It would be the first time since 2016.

So, look, Harry -- I've got Harry Enten with me.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Oh, thank you.

JIMENEZ: I just got to make sure you're introduced just in case.

ENTEN: Yes, thank you. We want to make sure.

JIMENEZ: Yes, just to make sure.

Look, some people are going to say its summer, its hot, come on, what are we talking about here. But how is this hot maybe different from previous years?

ENTEN: Yes, hot, hot, hot. You know, I like trend lines, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Love them.

ENTEN: I like to put things in context.

JIMENEZ: Let's do it.

ENTEN: I like to take a look at the long view. So, this is recent U.S. temperatures compared to the respective timeframe since 1895. The last 12 months have been the third warmest on record. How about the last two years? The second warmest on record. How about at the last five- year stretch? It has been the first -- the warmest five-year stretch on record. We just can't catch a break.

I am so used to the heat advisories now, I'm so used to the excessive heat warnings, it just seems to get hotter and hotter and hotter with no end in sight.

JIMENEZ: Well, after that very encouraging start to this segment --

ENTEN: Yes.

JIMENEZ: Let's get even more encouraging.

Has -- have -- are -- have graphics like these -- have -- do you have a sense that they have either changed people's ideas of climate change? Has it made it -- made people buy into it more or less, I mean, because when you lay it out like this, it's pretty stark.

ENTEN: It's pretty stark. And to me it's pretty obvious. But take a look here. Americans who think climate change is a very big problem -- this is just a poll out from last month -- 36 percent of Americans. Look at this trend line over the last three years. The number --

JIMENEZ: (INAUDIBLE) less.

ENTEN: It's -- yes.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

ENTEN: It's not going up. It's going down. It was 39 percent in June of 2023. May of 2022 it was 42 percent. Then you go back to July of 2021, it was 47 percent. The trend line is going in the exact opposite direction that you would expect. The fact being that despite the warmer than normal temperatures, despite all of this heat over the last five years, Americans are no more of the belief that climate change is a very big problem.

JIMENEZ: And so I guess the question is, why isn't there more urgency around this, for example?

ENTEN: It's because believe climate change is real and caused mostly by humans is actually less than a majority, Omar. And it's not even trending in any particular direction. It's only 45 percent now. That's basically the same as it was five years ago when it was 47 percent. There's no real movement here. Less than a majority of Americans believe climate change is real and caused mostly by humans and so they don't necessarily think it's a very big problem that at this point we really have an urgency to solve.

JIMENEZ: Even when we feel the heat like this?

ENTEN: Even when you see graphics like this and it tells the entire story, my friend.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

All right, look, that's why we bring you here. You tell the entire story.

Harry Enten, always a pleasure.

ENTEN: With some passion. JIMENEZ: Always a pleasure. You're going to get some sun this summer.

ENTEN: I am.

JIMENEZ: Already got a little bit of a tan going.

ENTEN: I'm going to the pool later.

JIMENEZ: Oh, all right. Sounds -- you heard it here first. Harry's at the pool later.

ENTEN: There you go.

JIMENEZ: Sara, where are you going to be?

SIDNER: Harry -- you know what, that was -- that was really -- I loved that because it tells you where we are. But it is so fascinating that people just don't believe it. The majority of Americans still not in that mindset. Although we are expecting some huge storms and a lot of hurricanes this year as well. We will see where the opinion goes, but the heat is here, we know that.

Thank you, guys.

All right, who's going first? Who gets the last word? Who's standing on the left or right? That is all decided. But what are the candidates going to say? That's what everyone will be waiting for in this historic debate.

Also, an historic night in baseball. The Major Leagues honor the Negro Leagues and, of course, the late great Willie Mays.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: Willie! Willie! Willie! Willie! Willie! Willie!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:28:26]

JIMENEZ: All right, the countdown is on with less than a week to go before the candidates go toe to toe in the first presidential debate right here on CNN. Biden got his pick of podiums after a coin toss yesterday, while Trump opted to have the final word.

I want to bring in Democratic strategist and former Clinton White House aide, Keith Boykin, plus CNN's senior political commentator and former special assistant to President George W Bush, Scott Jennings.

Good to see you both.

Scott, I want to start with you because in the middle of the night, I mean, Donald Trump posted on social media reacting to a new law in Louisiana requiring that all public school classrooms display the Ten Commandments. He said in part, "this may be in fact the first major step in the revival of religion, which is desperately needed." Who is he appealing to here? I mean is this for evangelical voters? Do you believe he actually believes this? What is the strategy here?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I mean, I guess it's a ploy for evangelicals and Christian voters who think we don't have enough of that in our school system. I mean I -- I mean it's a big part of his base. It's a big part of the Republican base. I haven't seen any polling on it. Not certain it's going to be central to the overall, you know, presidential campaign of how people are making decisions.

But, yes, I mean these are base Republican voters who would prefer it. So, not surprised that he would be for it.

JIMENEZ: Keith, just before we move on, do you have any reaction to what Trump posted on that?

[09:29:51]

KEITH BOYKIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, aside from the fact that it's clearly hypocritical that a convicted felon, who was already accused of multiple counts as sexual assault, and just was found guilty of paying hush money to a porn star and has told 30,000 lies according to "The Washington Post" when he was in office.