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Special Counsel Argues for Trump Gag Order; Catastrophic Flooding in Iowa; Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is Interviewed about Anniversary of Overturning Roe; Lost California Hiker Found. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 24, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:30:21]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: We're standing by for two hearings to get underway in Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago classified documents case. At the top of the hour, Judge Aileen Cannon will hear a new motion to dismiss the case with Trump's lawyers arguing that special counsel Jack Smith's office was illegally funded.

Then, this afternoon, Smith will make his case for a gag order for the former president in this case.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz is outside the Florida federal court.

Katelyn, what are you expecting to happen in court this morning?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Sara, this is day two of a three-day stress test of this case. All throughout this case Donald Trump's lawyers and his co-defendants layers keep making requests to try and either get the case dismissed or to have more hearings. They want delays or they want Donald Trump not to face those charges.

So today, this morning, the focus of the arguments to try and get the case dismissed and have the charges against him tossed, it's going to be about the special counsel and the constitutionality of that prosecutor's office at the Justice Department. Is it properly funded? Is the money that's being used by the Justice Department to pay for the special counsel something that Congress would allow in the way that the money is set up?

Now, this is one of those issues that has made its way through other courts. And the special counsel's office has been allowed to proceed to trial with charges against defendants. But Judge Aileen Cannon, she's her own judge. This is her court. She wants to have part two of the hearings on this particular issue this morning.

And then in the afternoon, that's when prosecutors are going to be coming in and making their arguments to Judge Cannon. They want to limit Donald Trump's speech in this case because they think that he is threatening law enforcement by making misleading statements about the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago in August of 2022. They think that could be harmful to agents that have worked on this case, potentially causing them to face harassment or threats. And also they worry about the trial whenever it may be. We don't have a date yet. But they worry that the statements Donald Trump continues to make about law enforcement, it could threaten what witnesses will say, or it could somehow hurt the integrity of the trial. Not clear yet, though, if Judge Cannon will make any decisions today and how long these issues are going to be argued in court.

Sara.

SIDNER: One thing is clear, more hearings means more delays.

Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much for your reporting outside the court there that - for us this morning.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, happening now, parts of Iowa underwater after suffering catastrophic flooding. Heavy rain has rivers at heights never reached before, which has forced evacuations. Twenty-two counties now under a disaster declaration.

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MONTE WARBURTON, ROCK VALLEY, IOWA CHIEF OF POLICE: The river rose to historic levels that we've never seen here before. And it's hard to deal with that much water. It's a monumental undertaking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Meteorologist Elisa Raffa joined us now with the latest.

What are you seeing out there, Elisa?

ELISA RAFFA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We still have flood warnings in effect, John, for parts of southern Minnesota, going into South Dakota, including Sioux Falls, and then into northwest Iowa. Warnings go down the Missouri River from Sioux City to Omaha because - not because we're still finding rain falling, but because the ground is just so waterlogged, the rivers are aggravated, still rising in some spots because we got 10 to 15 inches of rain in parts of South Dakota in northwest Iowa just in three days. A huge swath of rain here. Four to six to seven to eight inch totals. I mean we're talking about 17 inches in parts of South Dakota. A foot, Davis, South Dakota. And Rock Rapids, Iowa, as well you've got totals over 11.5 inches. Sioux Falls, 6.5 inches is a months' worth of rain. We've got major and moderate flooding that's still possible. And we do know that a warmer atmosphere can squeeze out heavier rain, John.

BERMAN: Now, talking about the rain. The heat is still an issue for a big part of the country, right?

RAFFA: Yes. I mean it is. It's still pretty hot out there. We had a very hot weekend along the East Coast, but that heat dome has kind of nudge to the west. So, we still have heat indices up to 110 degrees possible from the Dakotas down to the gulf coast where we have all of these heat advisories. It's taking up about 1,000 miles in that area. Ninety-nine is your forecast today for Little Rock, 98 in Oklahoma City, 98 in Kansas City, 98 in Atlanta. There's your little bit of a break from New York, Boston. Eighty-eight degrees in Washington, D.C., today after hitting 100 over the weekend.

[09:35:04]

So, as we go into the week, we're still looking at 77 percent of Americans with temperatures at 90 degrees or hotter. More than 200 records could fall both daytime highs and overnight lows because we're talking about overnight temperatures only sitting at 80 degrees after hitting temperatures up near a hundred during the day. So really not getting any relief. Temperatures nearing triple digits in Atlanta, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Memphis, all through the next couple of days.

John.

BERMAN: That does not look fun at all. Elisa Raffa, thank you very much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, brand new details on how the candidates are preparing for the historic CNN debate. President Biden gearing up for multiple versions of Donald Trump, while Trump's team is telling him to be disciplined.

Also, two astronauts stuck in space until further notice. New developments aboard Boeing's Starliner spaceship.

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[09:40:38]

SIDNER: We are just days away, three exactly, from an historic presidential debate here on CNN. But today also marks two years since the Supreme Court ended the federal right to abortion. Since the ruling, 14 states now have total or near-total bans on abortion, all with varying levels of restrictions and the types of exceptions. It undoubtably will be an issue both President Biden and Donald Trump will be asked about on the debate stage on Thursday.

Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota joining me now.

Thank you so much for being here early this morning with us.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Thanks, Sara.

SIDNER: Let's talk about what has happened. We were - we are at this two-year mark since the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade in what is known as the Dobbs decision. Conservatives have been pushing for this for decades. Biden has a new ad out. What do you want to hear from Joe Biden onstage, on the debate stage, when it comes to this issue? KLOBUCHAR: Well, there is such a clear, powerful difference between the candidates. And that ad, I suggest everyone watch that ad, it really brings it home. On one hand you have Donald Trump, who has said that he is proudly responsible, yes, to be the person who put those judges on that overturned Roe v. Wade. Then you have Joe Biden, who clearly wants to codify Roe v. Wade into law. You look at what's happened in just these - everyone remembers where they were when this decision came out. Two years later, patchwork of laws. One-third of women living in states that have extreme bans. You have doctors in fear of criminalization. You have IVF at risk. You have cases where women, like in Oklahoma, are told to bleed out in the parking lot because they're not quite at the point that they might die to get the kind of reproductive care that they need.

This is happening in America today, and it is a clear difference, and you're going to see it in very clear technicolor on that debate stage in the next three days, which I'm very looking forward to seeing.

SIDNER: Do you think Biden should go on the attack, or do you think that he should, you know, tell those personal stories on the stage?

KLOBUCHAR: I think Joe Biden is going to make it very clear that he stands up for the women of America. When you look at it, its 70 to 80 percent of Americans are with him on this, not just women, 70 to 80 percent of Americans. And that has been seen in referendums in Ohio, and in Kansas, what we saw in the Virginia legislative races recently. Americans are showing up in voting on this issue.

And Donald Trump is on the wrong side of history. And just because this is our current reality when it comes to women's rights, it doesn't have to be our future. And that is what you're going to be hearing from Joe Biden on the debates stage.

SIDNER: I want to let you hear from Republican Byron Donalds, who just spoke to our John Berman about this particular issue. And here is what he said about whether Donald Trump was responsible for abortion bans across the country now.

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REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): What he's responsible for is for people being able to weigh in on abortion. Listen, abortion is a very personal topic. It's the most divisive topic in our politics. We all know this. And for 50 years the Supreme Court took away the ability for the American people to weigh in on one of the most personal topics that does deal with politics in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: What do you make of that line?

KLOBUCHAR: You know, when I think of that little girl that was a victim of incest, that was raped in Ohio and I had to go across state lines to get health care, that's not about weighing in. He has clearly said, Donald Trump, that he is personally responsible for overturning Roe v. Wade. I take him at his word. And you look at the repercussions of this. He has said he wants to

return it to the states. Well, what does that mean? That means one state says we're banning IVF. Another says were going to mess around with Mifepristone. Another one says that we're going to criminalize doctors. That is a chaos that he has caused. A patchwork of laws across the country.

And that's why it's so important for people to tune into this debate because there's a clear different vision, not just on this issue, there's a clear different vision when it comes to the fact that Donald Trump has said he'll be a dictator from day one.

[09:45:01]

Joe Biden supports the rule of law. A clear different vision when Donald Trump, during his presidency, repeatedly they tried to overturn the Affordable Care Act. Forty-five million people get health care because of that. Joe Biden, he was vice president to Barack Obama and helped to get that passed into law, led the way. These are going to be clear differences between the candidates that you're going to see on the CNN stage.

SIDNER: I want to ask you about some of the recent polling. Recent polling shows it's not abortion rights, actually it's inflation, the economy, and immigration that really tops American's concerns. Americans polled say, when you look at them, you know, it is Trump, not Biden, that is better at dealing with these two issues. That is an aggregate of polls. You see the Fox News, Quinnipiac and Marquette poll. The same thing goes when it comes to immigration.

How do you think Biden can convince the public that he is the one that can handle these two issues? We'll start with inflation. We'll start with the economy where people are feeling like they cannot afford what they used to be able to afford.

KLOBUCHAR: OK, first on polls. I've seen a number of polls showing Joe Biden gaining strength right now. So, let's put that aside because you have one poll after a poll.

On the economy, you're going to see a president that's been leading on the national stage. Someone who's taken us through the most difficult time, the pandemic, when so many people were out of work, getting that vaccine out there to make people - make sure that people have their health care. You're going to hear the story of that and how the work he's doing to bring down costs from going after monopolies, to taking on the pharmaceutical companies. I can't tell you how many times Donald Trump said that's what he wanted to do. It is Joe Biden that has finally gotten that law passed in - the bill passed into law, a bill that I've led, that said that Medicare should negotiate with the big pharma companies to bring down prices on drugs like Eloquence, drugs like Xarelto, drugs like Januvia, Guardant, blockbuster drugs. And this is the legacy that you're going to see where Joe Biden is going to be able to talk about the work he's done on bringing down costs. On immigration, something else you brought up, Joe Biden has clearly leaned into it. He wants those emergency powers to close down the border. What happened? We were about to pass that in Congress and Donald Trump ways in and says, no, no, no, don't do that. And you can see the result.

So, I just - I think it is a moment, when you have so much noise on the internet, every time when there is a big moment, Joe Biden has risen to the occasion. At the State of the Union, at Normandy. You've seen him rise to the occasion. So, that's why I think this debate, when people have just that minute, when there's not the noise, there's not the interruptions, and there's just some clear-cut questions on the visions that these two candidates have going forward, there's going to be a clear difference on that stage.

And I don't know what Donald Trump's going to show up. This is the first time we've seen him on the stage since he's had these 91 felony indictments and 30 plus some convictions. So, we don't know who's going to show up. But what I do know is a Joe Biden's on the right side of the issues for the people of this country.

SIDNER: Senator Amy Klobuchar, thank you so much for joining us this morning. Appreciate your time.

KLOBUCHAR: It was great to be on, Sara. Thank you.

SIDNER: All right, coming up, the incredible survival story of a man lost in the California backwoods for 10 days. The surprising guardian who found on that trail. There is a picture right there.

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[09:53:00]

BERMAN: All right, just in, the Supreme Court announced it has agreed to hear a challenge on state laws that curb gender affirming medical treatment for transgender youth. The case specifically challenges a Tennessee state ban on such care for minors.

Now, we are still waiting on several decisions from the court as soon as this week, including one on presidential immunity.

For the first time since his DWI arrest we are hearing from Justin Timberlake. This is what he told fans during a show in Chicago.

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JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, MUSICIAN: It's been a tough week. But you're here. And I'm here. Nothing can change this moment right now.

I know sometimes I'm hard to love, but you keep on loving me and I love you right back. Thank you so much.

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BERMAN: Keep on loving me. The rest sounded like the teacher for Peanuts cartoons right there.

SIDNER: But I know sometimes I'm hard to love.

BERMAN: Thank you for real time translation of Justin Timberlake right there. He is expected to be back in New York tomorrow for a performance at Madison Square Garden. Perhaps there will be better audio for that.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, tired and a little bit sore. That's how a California man is describing how he's feeling after his experience being lost for ten days in the mountains of Santa Cruz, California. That's how I describe every morning.

But CNN's Veronica Miracle is joining us now.

Veronica, tell us a little bit more about how he was able to survive those ten days in the woods.

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sara, it is just incredible. And I think the look on his face says it all, and also the condition in which he was found, just covered in dirt from head to toe. Just truly incredible.

Thirty-four-year-old Lukas McClish, he went hiking a couple of weeks ago. And he went out for a three-hour hike. Well, he ended up getting lost because the hike that he went on - are we having any audio issues because I'm not hearing you guys but I'm just going to keep talking.

OK, sorry about that.

So, he went on a hike for three hours. He ended up getting lost for ten days. His family actually reported him missing after he didn't show up for a Father's Day dinner.

[09:55:04]

So, he had no food, no water. He goes on this hike. He starts using his boot to drink water from rivers and streams. He drinks a gallon of water a day. He's losing energy as the days go on. And then, get this, a mountain lion starts following him.

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LUKAS MCCLISH, RESCUED HIKER: So I kind of just - I -- each day I go up a canyon, down a canyon, to the next waterfall, and just sit down at the waterfall and drink water out of my boot.

I felt comfortable the whole time I was out there. It wasn't worried about -- I had a mountain lion that was following me, but it was cool. He kept his distance. He was - I think it was just somebody watching over me.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MIRACLE: So, the Santa Cruz Mountains, they are dense. They're full of towering redwood trees. And though people could hear his cries for help, because he was screaming help, they couldn't exactly locate him until search and rescue, they brought in a drone and they were able to find him. He was able to get out without any serious injuries.

Of course, recovery, it is true truly incredible. You really don't hear stories like this every day.

Sara.

SIDNER: Veronica, that was all my fault. Thank you so much for that.

Luckily survived. I can't believe he was being followed by a mountain lion. Terrifying.

BERMAN: No, he goes, that's no problem. That was cool.

SIDNER: He's like, that was all right.

BERMAN: I was being followed by a mountain lion, but that was cool, as it is.

SIDNER: He's been through it this morning.

All right, thank you so much for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

"CNN NEWSROOM" with Jim Acosta, up next.

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