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Today, Biden in Buffalo to Visit Families After Deadly Shooting; Voters in Five States Head to Polls for Primaries; Trump's Clout To Be Tested in Pennsylvania, North Carolina Races. Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired May 17, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Erica Hill.

Moments ago, President Biden and the first lady arriving in Buffalo. You're looking at live pictures now, I believe. They, of course, are in Buffalo to pay their respects to the ten people who were senselessly gunned down, killed in a racially motivated mass shooting at a grocery store over the weekend. In the coming hours, they will meet with the victims' families, with community leaders and also with first responders.

And as this Buffalo community mourns the loss of those loved ones, officials say there are concerns now that there could be a copycat attack.

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MAYOR BYRON BROWN (D-BUFFALO, NY): There have been a number of internet messages about crimes potentially being committed, phone calls made. Already yesterday and the day before, two people were arrested. Law enforcement is taking this very seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: It's a measure of just how widespread the hate is that's driving this. This is new eyewitness video of the suspect's arrest after the bloody, bloody shooting, wearing there, as you can see, camouflage, he also had body armor. An operations manager at the store says that she told the 18-year-old alleged gunman to leave the store on Friday because it looked like he was bothering customers. There's evidence that he was planning for this sometime.

Prosecutors are working to bring federal charges against the suspected shooter. As of now, he has pleaded not guilty to a single charge of first-degree murder, but the district attorney says he expects to file more charges soon.

HILL: CNN's Victor Blackwell is joining us now. So, Victor, as we know, the president just arrived. We're looking at live pictures here of the president and the first lady, the first lady laying some flowers there at a memorial. Victor, memorials, as you so rightly pointed out yesterday on the air, that we have all seen far too many of them at this point. What more are we expecting from the president and the first lady today?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The president and Dr. Jill Biden have come here to place flowers at one of several memorials outside the Tops Supermarket here. The president taking a look at some of the other notes and flowers that have been dropped off for several days now since people here on the east side of Buffalo and really from across this city and outside of Buffalo have come here to mourn.

Also, we see the New York attorney general, Governor Hochul as well coming, other elected officials placing flowers at the memorial here.

The president will meet with family members of those who were killed, we expect survivors as well. He's a bit ahead of schedule, scheduled for remarks this afternoon. Those may be pushed up because of the timing of this visit to the location.

President Biden has, as we all know, experience in visiting sites like this, but this is the first time as president to come to the site of a mass shooting. In March of last year, he made remarks in Atlanta after the shootings at the spas across that area. That was a pre-scheduled visit to promote the COVID-19 funding. He also made remarks after the shooting at the King Super in Colorado. But this is his first time as president coming to the location, to the site of a mass shooting.

The president has often told the families of those who have lost people in these events that there will come a day when the memory of these people will bring a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye. Having spoken with the families of those who were killed here on Saturday, those tears are still coming.

We expect that the president will, as several presidents have before him, take on that role of consoler in chief, leaning on his own loss of his son, Beau Biden, of course, of his wife and child several decades ago in a car crash.

The president and elected officials taking just a moment to talk with one another and look at the flowers and the notes that others have brought here.

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SCIUTTO: The president also traveling with Senate Majority Leader and New York Senator Chuck Schumer, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and the representative, Brian Higgins, of that district there.

As you say, Victor, we've seen, we've covered, people watching have seen the aftermaths of shootings like this, the flowers, they come, the officials, they have come, too familiar.

What will the president's message be beyond as healer in chief here? What policy steps do we believe he will highlight in response?

BLACKWELL: Well, the president we know after the shootings in March of 2021, as I mentioned, in Colorado and in Georgia called for what across the country has large support, at least universal background checks. But, Jim, you'll remember in 2013 when then-President Obama made Vice President Biden the first point person on going to Capitol Hill to get some progress on gun safety after the shooting at Sandy Hook, and there was a lot of support across the country. I mean, if you look at from polls from 2013, in some demographics within the margin of error for everyone, north of 95 or 98 percent support for universal background checks.

And even after a classroom full of babies at the end of 2012, four and five-year-olds who were just learning to write their names, were mowed down using a semiautomatic weapon, then-Vice President Joe Biden couldn't get it done. And even in the remarks since as president in March of 2021 he acknowledges the unlikelihood that there will be progress in Congress on any gun safety legislation. Well, now, we're a few months out from a midterm election and likely there will be no progress again legislatively on gun safety. But we expect that the president will make those remarks, as he and several presidents before him have.

HILL: Yes. It is -- sadly, it is a well-worn script and almost a well-worn dance at this point that we know exactly how it's going to play out. Victor, I appreciate it, good to have you with us this hour.

Well, the Buffalo community, as Victor just said, still dealing with those tears at this point. It is very fresh. It is incredibly raw. The son of victim Ruth Whitfield, who is also a former fire commissioner, expressing his anger and calling on elected leaders to do more.

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GARNELL WHITFIELD JR., SON OF BUFFALO SHOOTING VICTIM RUTH WHITFIELD: We do our best to be good citizens, to be good people. We believe in God. We trust him. We treat people with decency, and we love even our enemies, and you expect us to keep doing this over and over and over again.

What are we supposed to do with all of this anger, with all of this pain?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Garnell Whitfield Jr., the son of Ruth Whitfield.

Joining me to discuss, Reverend Julian Armand Cook, a pastor at Macedonia Baptist Church in Buffalo and Reverend Paul Jake Thomas, pastor at Buffalo's Bethel AME Church. Gentlemen, it's good to have both of you with us here.

Reverend Cook, I wonder if we could start where Mr. Whitfield just left off there, his understandable anger, his understandable pain. When you hear that question, what am I supposed to do with all of this, how do you respond? REV. JULIAN ARMAND COOK, PASTOR, MACEDONIA BAPTIST CHURCH OF BUFFALO: I think that that anger and that pain that you're hearing is very raw, it's incredibly real, and I think it's the right question. I think it's the existential question that we need to be asking, that the community is asking at this point, which is if people cannot go to the grocery store, if black people cannot go to their local grocery store, which is, in fact, the only grocery store in this community for a two- mile radius, then where can we go? What do you want to us do? What are we supposed to do with that? I think Mr. Whitfield's question is exactly what we need to have laid at our feet today.

HILL: And as we focus on that question, as we focus on the reality this morning just days after this horrific racist massacre, you know, President Biden, as we know, started his campaign by invoking Charlottesville, by taking about a battle for the soul of the nation and calling out even white supremacy in this inaugural address.

Reverend Thomas, have you seen any real action to combat this very real, documented and growing threat?

REV. PAUL J. THOMAS, PASTOR, BETHEL AME CHURCH (voice over): Thank you, Erica, for that question, and the reality is we struggle to see. Our community is devastated, as any would be. However, we still remain full of faith, but the reality is we must act. We must address the systems and structures that allow guns to get into the hands of unstable people.

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We have to acknowledge the spread of white nationalism over the past decade. This has not been done. We must fight against attempts to hide our nation's true history and have honest conversations and stop trying to have those honest conversations in our schools throughout our states. And so we are struggling to see this because, you know, people are hiding.

HILL: Do you have faith that any of that will change?

THOMAS: I think situations like this brings us to the place where people have to see the horror up close and personal in some way, to help motivate the change, and I think that this will result. My hope is by the president's visit and other politicians and community leaders' visit, they will see that we have to engage in policy change. We need stronger laws to protect people from gun violence. We need to stop the current wave of state education over forms that silence dialogs about race. We must press for increased funding for mental health services. And I believe that this tragedy will help motivate certain politicians on Capitol Hill to move in this direction.

HILL: We'll be watching that, following that.

I do want to pick up, Reverend Cook, you also mentioned the fact of just how important this Tops market is to this community. It's the only grocery store within two miles. This is a food desert or was until the market came in. I know that both of your congregations and community have really been working to bridge that gap. Are you concerned though that once the cameras are gone that this need, that very specific need, could fall off the radar?

COOK: I'm extremely worried about that, Erica. It is one of the realities. I was just speaking with a woman yesterday in our community in her late 80s who was not going to pick up a prescription from her that she needed because she was afraid to go to the grocery store.

And so these are the types of things that I'm deeply concerned about. I am worried that when the cameras are off, we will forget, which is our tendency, and Reverend Thomas spoke to that a little bit. We have to insist, we have to resist the impulse to forget, to pursue a type of the need for safety because as long as this type of white supremacy rhetoric and these systemic structures exist, no one is safe. No one should think that they are safe.

HILL: Your congregation comes to you, members of the community who may not be members of your congregations come to you for guidance. They come to you for help as men of faith, oftentimes in this situation where people need to find a way to hold on to that faith.

I wonder if you could both just tell us quickly, and I'll start with you, Reverend Thomas, how do you hold on to faith in moments like this?

THOMAS: Well, the AME Church, Buffalo AME Church, Bethel AME Church is the oldest black church in Western New York, and this is not the first time we've experienced tragedy throughout its history being founded in 1831, even to the present. This congregation, as well as this community, have pressed through hardships and difficulties.

And one of the things that helps us understand is that, you know, there's a resolve in the community that will not allow us to roll over and die. And as a preacher of the gospel and as well as my colleague, Pastor Cook, we preach this resolve. We feed this resolve and we do it in a way that helps people understand that nothing crushes love and good intent at the end of the day.

And I believe when we do that, then we won't fold to what is happening, which are clear intentions to make us afraid, to make us feel unsafe, to make us feel targeted, and we won't do it. We have a strong resolve and that's what our community needs and that's what we hear.

The Western New York Peace-Makers have been out feeding people for the past several days. And one of the things that we do in the church, especially when one dies, we have what we call a re-pass and then we what have people call people going to the house and to feed and to help people deal with the trauma of what has happened.

And that's what this community, these churches are involved in, trying to pour love and compassion in a space where there's been trauma, and that's the message that we want to convey.

HILL: And it's such an important one. Reverend Cook, very quickly, go ahead.

COOK: And, Erica, I think we are much less interested in finding hope and in the rhetoric of finding hope and much more interested in what it means to create hope, to be a hope. And that's the type of activity that I'm seeing people join in right now. As Reverend Thomas said, the peacekeepers, ministers who have been out in the streets working with people. It is thoughts and prayers are not enough at this point. We need to walk away with this with a sustained conversation about how we move forward and create a better world and community together.

HILL: And perhaps more people could follow your lead as well and your actions. Reverend Cook, Reverend Thomas, thank you both for taking the time to join us today.

COOK: Thank you.

THOMAS: Thank you.

HILL: We're going to continue to follow the president's visit to Buffalo this hour. We'll bring you more of that live. Be sure to stay with us.

We are also closely watching primary day, voters heading to the polls in five states today.

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It's the biggest primary day of the year yet. So, which states are we watching, the major questions the Republicans are facing? We've got all of that for you, just ahead.

SCIUTTO: And later, desperate parents given an alternative option to feed their babies amid a continuing shortage of baby formula, that and the agreement with one manufacturer that could spell relief soon. You're going to want to hear this news. We're going to speak live with a White House official about what they are doing to change all of this.

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SCIUTTO: Primary season, already voters heading to the polls in five states today, the biggest primary day of the year so far with midterms coming up. In North Carolina, among candidates trying to replace retiring Senator Richard Burr there is former Republican Governor Pat McCrory. He is battling the Trump-endorsed congressman, Ted Budd and two other GOP candidates.

HILL: In Pennsylvania, celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz hoping an endorsement from the former president will help him defeat former hedge fund CEO David McCormick and upstart conservative activist Kathy Barnette.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is live in Pittsburgh for us this morning. So, what is the energy like on the ground there, because there's a whole lot of interest nationwide, as you know?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Erica and Jim. Yes, there absolutely is. And I would say the energy on the ground is a little bit uncertain and there's a lot of hand-wringing, particularly when it comes to the Republican Senate primary. You have those three top contenders that are all still virtually tied, David McCormick, the former hedge fund CEO, who is actually going to vote behind me here in just about an hour. You have, as you said, celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is endorsed by Donald Trump, and late-surging political newcomer and ultra conservative Kathy Barnette.

Now, the three of them were making their final pleas all around Pennsylvania yesterday. We heard from another person as well, that was former President Trump, who made robo calls on behalf of Oz bashing Barnette, as she's seen that late surge, as well as calling into Oz's final rally just to reiterate support for the former television host.

Now, if anyone tells you that they know what's going to happen here, they are stretching the truth because it is just too close right now. There are polls coming out from all different directions that all show something a little bit different.

Now, before we talk about Democrats, I do want to talk about one other Republican race, and that is for governor, because there, we have the Trump-endorsed election-denier Doug Mastriano, who is in the lead. And between Barnette and Mastriano, it really is becoming a test over just how right conservatives are willing to go. And I can tell you this, that there are Republican strategists across the country who I am talking to who are pulling their hair out over this. They believe that these ultra conservative candidates, both of whom were in Washington on January 6th, cannot win in a general election and are going to cost them these very important seats, so, something we're watching closely now.

Now, the other thing I want to point out here is the uncertainty that is around the Democratic Senate race. It's not quite as much as the Republican side, but we know Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman is still in the hospital after suffering a stroke late last week. He has maintained a big lead over both of his opponents, Representative Conor Lamb, as well as State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta, but there's this question mark, right, around his health. It's also about the fact that he hasn't been on the campaign trail since Friday, so, a lot of wondering of whether or not this is going to at least shrink that pretty hefty lead that Fetterman has had.

Again, a lot going on here in Pennsylvania, and as you said, Erica, nationwide, there are a lot of eyes on the state.

SCIUTTO: Kristen Holmes, thanks so much.

Let's speak now to Doug Heye, he is a Republican strategist, former RNC communications director. Also with us, Toluse Olorunnipa, Political Investigations and Enterprise Reporter for The Washington, he's also co-author of a new book out, it's called, His Name is George Floyd, One Man's Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice."

Doug, let's begin with you, because you made the point frequently that each of these primaries is very different, both in the rules, for instance, some are open, some are closed, open in that Democrats can switch over to vote Republican. Sometimes you have multiple candidates, you have different thresholds. There's a lot of talk about Trump being the driving, defining force here. Is that overstated or it depends on the race?

DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It depends on the race, but it's also overstated. It's both at the same time. Look, we all have Trump on the brain and we have for years, but rules and candidates and campaigns matter. And so if you're talking about, you know, Pennsylvania, which Kristen was just talking about, that's a closed primary. Only Republicans can vote in that primary. There's not a lot of early voting. That's also going to make a difference in the Democratic primary.

In North Carolina, Ted Budd is going to win this in a walk. He's the Trump-endorsed candidate. But when Trump endorsed him last year, he didn't surge to 50 percent in the polls. He got a little bit of a bump. He certainly got a financial bump but that was it. The threshold in North Carolina is 30 percent, and that's where Madison Cawthorn's primary is going to be most interesting.

Yes, he's Trump-endorsed, but what we can see, as we saw in Ohio, is you can get 70 percent of Republican primary voters voting against you. It's also an open primary in North Carolina, unaffiliated can votes. 70 percent of Republican voters can reject the Trump-endorsed candidate in North Carolina and they can still win.

SCIUTTO: I mean, you talk about bipartisanship, districts already gerrymandered, it's a primary that already, of course, favors that party's voters and the low threshold. You can see why you end up with such division in Congress.

Let's talk about Pennsylvania, if we can, for a moment, Toluse, because you have two -- Kathy Barnette rising in the Senate race, but in the governor race, Doug Mastiano.

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Kathy Barnette was at January 6. She wasn't a rioter but she was there. And Doug Mastiano, he's a straight up election-denier subpoenaed by the House select committee. That's remarkable.

How far and broad are the folks who buy the lie now close to public office here?

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's almost become a prerequisite on the right to get support from not only the president but from the president's supporters. One of the things we see with Kathy Barnette is though she was not endorsed by Trump, she has a lot of support from the grassroots. TRUMP decided to endorse Dr. Oz, who happens to be someone he knows personally but not necessarily someone who had lined up with his policy views before he began to run for office.

And in part, that's one of the reasons why it's unclear what's going to happen. Usually when Trump gets behind someone, it becomes the end of the ball game. Basically, that person wins the nomination. But we're not sure what's going to happen in part because the grassroots is behind someone who is seen as more Trump-aligned in terms of her policy and her rhetoric and it's almost as if Trump, who was the insurgent candidate, is now getting someone behind someone might be more establishment, might be more palatable to a modern suburban voter. But the insurgent candidate seems to be someone that has the grassroots support. It's anyone's ball game in terms of what's going to happen.

SCIUTTO: And his endorsement, for instance, did not win in Nebraska.

Look at North Carolina, a state you know well in these races. You mentioned Ted Budd with a big lead there. I mean, this is a remarkable state because it shows the potential shift, right? Because the outgoing senator, Burr, voted to convict Trump, one of seven Republicans who did so. The winner of this race, assuming the Republican wins, we don't know that, but still that will be a shift in the kind of Republican who would fill that seat.

HEYE: It will be a shift. Look, this is a state that Donald Trump won twice, and both North Carolina senators when running with Trump won as well, Richard Burr overperformed on Trump. What's been interesting in this race is Ted Budd, as I thought was always going to be the frontrunner. He could identify himself as the most conservative, whether you're talking about Trump or not. And Trumpism and conservatism aren't necessarily the same thing. And he also benefitted from a lot of outside spending from the Club for Growth, a lot of outside spending. And meanwhile, Patrick McCrory, the former mayor of Charlotte, has struggled to develop a real message and that's benefited Budd.

SCIUTTO: Well, the Club for Growth, it's interesting because there's been a somewhat public battle, right, between the Club for Growth, a very conservative Republican-supporting group with a lot of money against some of the Trump candidates. I mean, that's an interesting dynamic. And, I mean, they're fighting tooth and nail in sending shots across Trump's bow, you might say, by, for instance, backing Barnette in Pennsylvania.

OLORUNNIPA: Yes. We're in 2022, but everyone's eyes and minds are already starting to focus on 2024 and people are starting to position themselves and see whether or not the steam behind Trump that propelled him in 2016 will continue into 2024. He did lose in 2020 and some people are starting to say maybe we should start looking at a post-Trump Republican Party. Maybe we should start getting behind other candidates who are in line with our policy views and taking a position that's different from Trump's position and see how it goes. And that's what we're going to be watching for tonight.

SCIUTTO: A lot of Republicans were publicly for it before they were against it given the survivability of his support.

I mean, the other question before we go, Doug, is that -- and this is the McConnell view, right, is that some of these candidates, if they are particularly far-right or particularly MAGA, may not be the best candidates for the Republican Party in the general.

HEYE: Yes. I was at the Republican National Committee in 2010 Delaware nominated Christine O'Donnell. She not only didn't win, she couldn't win. Sharron Angle in Nevada, same thing, and then saw Todd Akin and Richard Murdock in Missouri and Indiana.

Mitch McConnell is right to be concerned about this. This could be a great year for Republicans if they don't screw it up on their own.

SCIUTTO: Doug Heye, Toluse Olorunnipa, he's got a new book out, check it, I'll tweet about it, thanks so much for both of you.

CNN will have special live coverage as the results roll in from all five states today. Don't miss Election Night in America with Erin Burnett, Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper all starting at 7:00 P.M. Eastern Time.

HILL: This just into CNN, another column of buses has just left the Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine as Russia temporarily pauses its attacks in Mariupol, redirecting them elsewhere. We're going to be live with very latest. Stay with us. That's next.

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