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U.S. Supreme Court Leak Investigators Seek Phone Records; Sussmann Found Not Guilty of Lying to FBI; Travel Industry Overwhelmed as Consumer Demand Spikes; Shanghai Begins to Loosen COVID Restrictions; Extreme Weather Puts Strain on U.S. Electrical Grid. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired June 01, 2022 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

ANNOUNCER: From London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Isa Soares.

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Isa Soares. If you are just joining us, let me bring you up-to-date with our top stories this hour.

Investigators in Texas say they have yet to receive a response from the Uvalde school district police chief for a follow up interview to discuss the elementary school shooting. However, he did show up to be sworn into the city council on Tuesday.

And in an op-ed in the "New York Times," President Joe Biden says he will send more military aid to Ukraine including advanced rocket systems and munitions to defend against Russia.

Now to a CNN exclusive, U.S. officials are intensifying the pressure on clerks for the Supreme Court as they investigate the unprecedented leak of a draft opinion. CNN Joan Biskupic reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The U.S. Supreme Court is ramping up its investigation of who might have leaked a draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade that 1973 decision made abortion legal nationwide. Sources with knowledge of the situation tell CNN that court officials are taking steps to require law clerks to provide cellphone records and sign affidavits related in their possible involvement in the disclosure about a month ago.

Law clerks are apparently so alarmed over the moves, particularly the sudden request for private cell data that they've begun considering outside counsel. Now these young lawyers selected to be law clerks each year are regarded at as the elite of the elite. They are overwhelmingly graduates of ivy league law schools and have had prior clerk ships with prominent U.S. appellate court judges.

The court's new moves in this leak investigation are unprecedented and the most striking development to date in the effort to figure out who might have provided the news organization Politico with the draft opinion that it published on May 2. The probe has intensified the already high tensions at the Supreme Court where the conservative majority is poised to roll back a half century of abortion rights and privacy protections.

Lawyers outside the court who have become aware of the new inquiries related to cellphone details warn of potential intrusiveness on clerks' personal activities and say those clerks may feel the need to obtain independent counsel.

One appellate lawyer with knowledge of the new demands on law clerks told me that clerks would be advised to seek outside counsel, quote, that's what similarly situated individuals would do in virtually any other government investigation. It would be hypocritical for the Supreme Court to prevent its own employees from taking advantage of that fundamental legal protection.

Now, this escalating scrutiny of law clerks reflects Chief Justice John Roberts' concerns about this breach in confidentiality as well as possibly further leaks. The investigation comes at the busiest time in the court's annual term when relations among the justices are already strained. The justices are pressing toward late June deadlines, trying to resolve differences in the toughest cases. All with these new pressures and public scrutiny.

The justices in addition to abortion rights are also resolving major cases over gun rights and religious liberties. So, on all fronts this court term is heating up and we will know what it means for the law in America likely by the end of June.

Joan Biskupic, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Hillary Clinton's campaign lawyer Michael Sussman was acquitted Tuesday of lying to the FBI. The jury's verdict is a major defeat for the Trump era prosecutor hunting for wrongdoing in the Trump/Russia probe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SUSSMANN, FORMER CLINTON CAMPAIGN ATTORNEY: I told the truth to the FBI and the jury clearly recognized that with their unanimous verdict today. I'm grateful on to the members of the jury for their careful and thoughtful service. Despite being falsely accused, I'm relieved that justice ultimately prevailed in my case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Prosecutor John Durham appointed by the Trump administration, claimed Sussman lied during a 2016 meeting in which he passed a trip to the FBI about Donald Trump and Russia. CNN's Evan Perez has more on the high profile case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: He was accused of essentially lying to the FBI during the September 2016 meeting. Prosecutors made the case that this was really a plot by the Hillary Clinton campaign to try to get an investigation of these supposedly suspicious computer links between the Trump Organization and a bank in Russia. The problem for them was that they were relying on witnesses who repeatedly had very poor memories of exactly what happened. And from what you saw in the jury reaching this verdict after about 6 1/2 hours or so, they clearly did not believe that he lied or that the lie was material. So that was a big problem for the prosecution.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:35:00]

SOARES: Evan Perez there.

Jury deliberations are expected to resume today in the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard defamation trial. The jurors deliberated for ten hours on Tuesday but failed to issue a verdict. CNN's Jean Casarez has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The jury has deliberated for about ten hours so far in this defamation case -- Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard. And Monday was actually the first full day of deliberations. Johnny Depp is alleging that three different statements from the "Washington Post" op-ed are defamatory against him, the op-ed that Amber Heard published in 2018.

And the jury actually had a question on the first statement which includes and is the headline of the online version of the op-ed. Which says in part I spoke up against sexual violence. One of the questions the jury has to answer, do you believe this is false and they wanted to know are we looking just at that headline or are we looking at the whole article. Well, the answer is it is just the headline for statement number one.

As I told you, this defamation case is complex. There are eight pages of a special verdict form. There are 38 pages of jury instructions. And we cannot forget that Amber Heard has a counterclaim of defamation against Johnny Depp.

Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: A new cast member in the Star Wars Universe has been receiving racist messages and the franchise is standing by her side. Moses Ingram plays Reva in the "Obi-Wan Kenobi" series on Disney+. She addressed the racist comments directly on her Instagram account. Star Wars also addressed the matter on Twitter.

It said: We are proud to welcome Moses Ingram to the Star Wars family and excited for Reva's story to unfold. If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say. We resist. There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don't choose to be a racist -- as you can see there on Twitter.

Well ahead on CNN, air travel chaos, commercial airlines are struggling worldwide to handle a spike in travel. We'll explain why things have gone so wrong.

Plus -- and after a long lockdown, China's financial capital is starting to lift COVID restrictions, but it is too early to call it reopening. The caveats and safety measure still in place, next.

[04:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: It's an agonizing time for air travel. Long lines, delays and canceled flights are causing chaos as well as frustration for travelers and airlines alike at airports right across the world. This is London's Gatwick Airport where some travelers reportedly waited for six hours before being sent home on Tuesday. The disruptions come as the travel industry continues to suffer from staff shortages as well as financial challenges triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the United States travel industry leaders are asking the Biden administration to lift COVID test requirements for all travelers flying into the country. Right now, travelers must provide a negative test result before boarding a flight to the U.S. Travel industry leaders say the ongoing testing requirement does not match the current threat level and is harming the U.S. economy.

Meantime the Justice Department is asking an appeals court to overturn the ruling that declared the CDC mask mandate on public transportation unlawful in April. The CDC officials argue that the mandate is still needed to protect public health and curb the spread of the virus.

Well, after more than two months under lockdown, China's richest city is finally beginning to ease COVID restrictions in low risk areas. Most Shanghai residents are now able to leave their homes. While this is the biggest step Shanghai has taken toward a full reopening, the weeks leading up to this point has been filled with chaos. Our Selina Wang has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sprinting with shopping bags, residents racing to get out. After more than two months of a brutal city-wide lock down, Shanghai is finally cracking open the seal. The city's main train station, packed with people trying to escape.

But actually, getting out of here is a treacherous journey. The city says it will fully resume transportation today. But earlier, people have been seen trekking miles across highways, dragging their luggage or strapping it to bikes, even journeys of dozens of miles or more, not swaying their determination.

The train station parking lot has become a campsite, some leaving days earlier than their departure time, terrified they could be locked down again if they stay at home. The masses outside the train station, a stark contrast to the rest of Shanghai, hundreds of thousands still remained locked in but even the lucky ones allowed out face a laundry list of restrictions. There are check points everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is definitely not freedom.

WANG (voice-over): This Shanghai resident and her son who wish to remain anonymous for fear of persecution from authorities were finally allowed out after more than 80 days. Her only solace is seeing her son outside and smiling for the first time in a long time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My child now has depression because of the lockdown. He started waking up at night and crying and shouting and saying there were people wearing masks in his bedroom and he stopped eating.

WANG (voice-over): That harsh reality, miles away from what the government wants to show. Watch this state T.V. reporter pull the microphone and camera away during a live interview, when the resident starts to complain about the lockdown. She says I've never lived through anything like this, being locked inside your home and not allowed to go out, what a big joke.

Officials say the city will start returning to normal in June but residents are doubtful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, this does feel like endless, endless nightmare.

WANG (voice-over): Her freedom lasted less than a week, one COVID case found near her so she's back to lockdown. For over two months, Shanghai had its freedom taken away, residents imprisoned at home or forced into quarantine centers like these. No one knows when this nightmare will fully end.

Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Well, just as the temperatures heat up, a new warning of system overload. Ahead the U.S. region most at risk of power blackouts this summer.

[04:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: The remnants of hurricane Agatha which slammed into Mexico's Pacific coast could become a new storm in the Atlantic. CNN meteorologist Karen Maginnis is here to explain -- Karen.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Isa, it's not a rare situation, it's very interesting though when Agatha was in the Pacific Basin, it was at hurricane intensity, made landfall as a category 2. Now it's gotten ripped apart across southern Mexico. And then the remnants are expected to gather some strength, that with the dynamics across the Yucatan Peninsula. And it looks like this could become our next named storm.

And people have asked me does it keep the same name. No, it doesn't. It'll be the first named storm of the Atlantic basin even though this is the northwestern Caribbean and the name would be Alex.

Look at the heavy rain across the Yucatan, and yes this includes region around Cancun. But what happens for the residents of central and south Florida? Well, it looks like over the next several days you could see the fallout from this with some heavy rainfall. That's a little beyond that five day forecast where we have about a 70 percent likelihood that this will be a named system.

[04:50:00]

All right, frontal system makes its way across the eastern sea board and into the eastern Great Lakes, a portion of the Ohio River Valley could see strong to severe storms. Also, once again across Oklahoma and Texas but also that Ozark region in northern and northwestern sections of Arkansas. Lots of wind reports, wind and hail, 11 reports of tornadoes. So, in last two days, most of the tornadoes in Minnesota, we had lots of damage, some reports of some injury, but no fatalities.

All right, these are the areas that I was telling you about with the main threats of high wind, also large sized hail. Wow, large sized hail in portions of Oklahoma and Texas. They were at grapefruit-size and tennis ball-size. It switches across the mid-Atlantic going into Thursday -- Isa.

SOARES: Thank you very much, Karen.

And now to mandatory evacuations that have been ordered after a wildfire broke out in California's wine country. The so-called "Old Fire" in Napa ignited on Tuesday and has already burned more than 500 acres or about 200 hectares. As of now it is only 5 percent contained. We'll stay on top of that story for you.

Well, wildfires and soaring temperatures this summer could strain the U.S. power system and even spark blackouts. The government's summer forecast predicts above average temperatures right across much of the country and areas prone to wildfires will likely be the hottest. CNN's Rene Marsh reports on how the extreme weather is overwhelming America's electrical grid.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As wildfires burn and temperatures rise across the nation, a sobering new report warns the U.S. power system could buckle, triggering energy emergencies this summer.

The upper Midwest and Mid-South along the Mississippi face the highest risk of blackouts. Texas, the West Coast, and Southwest face an increased risk.

ROMANY WEBB, SABIN CENTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE LAW: The electric system is old, and so, it's not designed to withstand the impacts of climate change.

MARSH (voice-over): Extreme temperatures trigger a surge in demand, and that taxes the grid. An early heat wave has already knocked six power plants offline in Texas this month. In Oklahoma, heat also played a role in blackouts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like a walk-in freezer.

MARSH (voice-over): And last year, the Texas power grid completely failed for days under a deep freeze, 246 people died.

YAMI NEWELL, CHICAGO RESIDENT: An energy crisis can become a public health crisis. It can become a food crisis.

MARSH (voice-over): Yami Newell has seen the cascading effects of an unreliable power grid in her hometown of Chicago.

NEWELL: For a wealthier family, if they have a power outage and all the food in their refrigerator goes bad, they may be able to go afford to go back to the store and replenish the coffers. For a family that's operating on more restricted income, they might not be able to go back and refill the coffers.

MARSH (voice-over): In her Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, solar panels now dot the rooftop of a public housing complex. A short drive from there, a backup battery stores energy from the solar panels as well as natural gas generators, creating what the state energy company calls a microgrid.

PAUL PABST, COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY: Without power, we're talking about potential life threatening situations. So, this microgrid provides that backup to be able to deliver power even when the grid isn't there.

MARSH (voice-over): The project is pending approval, but once it's operating, it can connect and share power with the main power grid. In the event of a blackout, it can disconnect and operate independently, tapping its stored battery energy to power the homes, police station, and hospital in the area for four hours.

WEBB: We have seen a reluctance on the part of many utilities to factor climate change into their planning processes, because they say that the science around climate change is too uncertain.

MARSH (voice-over): They're basing analysis for grid reliability and investments on historical averages because planning for extreme projections is more expensive.

WEBB: And so, we're continuing to design and cite facilities based on historic weather patterns that we know in the age of climate change aren't a good proxy for future conditions.

MARSH (voice-over): As communities work to build a more resilient grid, Bronzeville is a possible blueprint for creating a backup for when climate wreaks havoc on the grid. MARSH: Compounding the U.S. power grid supply and demand problem is

drought. One U.S. grid regulator tells CNN, there's been a 2 percent loss of hydro power from the nation's dams due to low water levels. Add to that rapid retirement of coal power plants all while nearly everything from toothbrushes and cars are electrified. Many energy experts telling CNN adding more renewable energy would help increase the nation's power supply.

Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Well, another thriller on the court in Paris as longtime rivals Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic battled it out at the French Open. In the end defeated the defending French Open champion to advance to the semifinals.

[04:55:00]

The match between the all-time tennis greats lasted more than 4 hours and ended after one in the morning local time. Nadal is seeking the record extending 14th French Open title and record extending 22nd major title.

And in the world of football, Scotland will face off against Ukraine in Glasgow today in a qualifying match for the World Cup in Qatar. For the Ukraine's the war at home is very much, of course, on the players' minds, but a win would provide a much needed morale boost. The winner of this match will go on to play against Wales on Sunday with a spot in the World Cup on the line.

Friends don't lie and neither seems do the numbers. Latest season of the Netflix hit "Stranger Things" -- I have not seen -- set a record audience over the weekend. The sci-fi and horror drama had the largest debut ever for an English language TV show on the streaming service.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't have my powers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know how to say this other than just to say it. Without you, we can't win this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: My team have been talking about it in my ear for the last few minutes. Netflix says the show hit number one in 83 countries and reached top ten in every country where the service is available. Even beat Netflix's "Bridgeton" which brought in 193 million hours viewed in March.

And that does it for me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Isa Soares in London. Our coverage continues on "EARLY START" with Christine Romans and Laura Jarrett. Have a wonderful day. Thanks very much.

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