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Uvalde-Born McConaughey Urges Action on Gun Control; Republicans Largely Oppose Democrats' Proposals on Guns; January 6 Hearings Set to Begin on Thursday; Several Key Leaders Boycott Summit of the Americas Over Exclusions; Bass and Caruso Square Off in Los Angeles Mayor's Race. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired June 08, 2022 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Responsible gun owners are fed up with the Second Amendment being abused and hijacked by some deranged individuals.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're more than hurt. We're angry. We're mad as hell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is devastating to the families who lived through this trauma to watch the United States Senate do nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that there are legitimate reasons why people would want to have them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why do you think people need to have ar-15s in this country?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are talking about a Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we can introduce to them safely, then they normally say that thing's not even scary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster.
FOSTER: On Wednesday, June 8, 4:00 a.m. on Capitol Hill where in the coming hours U.S. lawmakers will hear the testimonies from the families of mass shooting victims reflecting on the lives they have lost. But while gun policy, talks on a bipartisan deal, carry on, many believe it's not enough for the families who have lost loved ones to gun violence.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate heard from some of those families, they called on Congress to take action on gun reform and hate crimes. One man's mother was killed when a shooter opened fire at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York last month. He remembered his mother as the heart of the family.
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GARNELL WHITFIELD JR., LOST MOTHER RUTHE WHITFIELD IN BUFFALO SHOOTING: What I loved most about her was the way she loved her family unconditionally. Sacrificing everything for us. Our lives are forever changed, forever damaged by an act of profound hate and evil. But we're more than hurt. We're angry. We're mad as hell because this should have never happened. My mother's life mattered. My mother's life mattered. And your actions here today will tell us how much it matters to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Meanwhile actor Matthew McConaughey who was born in Uvalde, Texas made a plea for gun control. He spent much of his past week in his hometown visiting the families of victims and in an passionate at times emotional speech at the White House on Tuesday, he showed pictures, artwork and belongings from some of the victims. He said their stories need to be told and action is needed to honor the lives of the 19 children and two teachers killed at Robb Elementary.
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MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, ACTOR: We also met Anna and Danila, the mom and stepdad of the 9-year-old Maite Rodriguez. Maite wanted to be a marine biologist. She was already in contact with Corpus Christi University of A&M for her future college enrollment. 9 years old. Maite cared for the environment so strongly that when the city asked her mother if they could reduce some balloons into the sky in her memory, her mom said, oh no, Maite wouldn't want to litter.
Maite wore green high top Converse with a heart she had hand drawn on the right toe because they represented her love of nature. Camila's got these shoes. Can you show these shoes, please? Wore these every day. Green Converse with a heart on the right toe. These are the same green Converse on her feet that turned out to be the only clear evidence that could identify her after the shooting.
We also met a cosmetologist, she was well versed in mortuary makeup, that's the task to make victims appear as peaceful and natural as possible for their open casket viewings. These bodies were very different. They needed much more than makeup to be presentable. They needed extensive restoration. Why? Due to the exceptionally large exit wounds of an AR-15 rifle. Most of the bodies so mutilated that only DNA tests or green Converse could identify them.
[04:05:02]
We need responsible gun ownership, responsible gun ownership. We need background checks. We need to raise the minimum age to purchase an AR- 15 rifle to 21. We need a waiting period for those rifles. We need red flag laws and consequences for those who abuse them. These are reasonable practical, tactical regulations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: A U.S. Senate Republican says that she was taken by surprise by a flood of calls from her constituents on action on gun reform. Cynthia Loomis is now rethinking her position on new legislation. A Wyoming Republican, he represents a very pro-gun state is now considering voting for a package that could package that could include restricting some people from buying guns. However, as CNN's Manu Raju reports, most of her conservatives colleagues remain resolutely opposed to gun reform.
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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After his mother was murdered in the Buffalo grocery store massacre, Garnell Whitfield made this appeal to senators today. Do something.
GARNELL WHITFIELD, JR., SON OF BUFFALO SHOOTING VICTIM RUTH WHITFIELD: Because if there is nothing, then respectfully, Senators, you should yield your positions of authority and influence to others that are willing to lead on this issue. The urgency of the moment demands no less. My mother's life mattered.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): But in the halls of the Senate, a deal to help stem the rising tide of mass shootings across the country is still elusive, even as negotiators race to find an agreement as soon as this week.
RAJU: What are the sticking points right now?
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I think it's just different people have different ideas. And you know, this is a big diverse country. And so, I think it just takes time to build consensus.
RAJU (voice-over): A small bipartisan group of senators looking at narrow changes to gun laws, including encouraging states to enact red flag laws, allowing juvenile records to be reviewed during background checks, and pumping money into school security and mental health programs. What's not on the table, banning semiautomatic rifles used in many mass shootings, and raising the age to 21 to purchase those weapons even though the killer in Uvalde, Texas was only 18 years old and wielded an AR-15 style rifle.
RAJU: Senator, why not raise the age to 21 for people buying semiautomatic rifles?
SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): We're talking about a lot of things. And what we're talking about most are background checks, juvenile records, the areas where we can get consensus.
RAJU: Why don't you have agreement on that?
TILLIS: That's -- you know, it's a -- we got a lot of people in the discussion, we got to get 60 votes, hopefully we get 75 votes on this.
RAJU: Why do people even need AR-15s?
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): Well, I mean, the challenge you have on that is there's 20 million of them in the country already. They are a sporting rifle. And it's something that a lot of people, for purposes of going out, target shooting, in my state, they use him to shoot prairie dogs and you know, other types of varmints. And so, I think that there are legitimate reasons why people would want to have them.
RAJU (voice-over): What also may not be included expanding background checks on gun show sales and over the internet.
RAJU: But why has it been so hard to get Republicans on board behind this?
SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R-PA): You should ask Republicans who are not on board behind it.
RAJU: And you -- but you've been working on this issue for a decade, you know?
TOOMEY: I know. I know. It's very frustrating.
RAJU: Now sources tell us, that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has expressed an openness to backing an increase into the age of 21 to purchase those semiautomatic rifles. Current law is in the age of 18. But privately he has expressed an openness to backing that. But even so, that is unlikely to get into a final deal because Republicans are opposed to this for the most part and Mitch McConnell as the top Republican in the Senate often aligns himself with the rest of the members of his conference.
So that key issue unlikely to get resolved. How will the other issues get resolved? A major question as negotiators meet in the days ahead and try to get a deal on the floor as soon as next week.
Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
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FOSTER: Well, many Republicans are opposed to raising the age limit to purchase semiautomatic rifles to 21. We're learning that the top Republican in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has privately said that he is open to that. But he doesn't seem optimistic it'll be part of a final deal. We're also not clear when that deal might happen or what it might include. Both sides agree that there's much work to be done.
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SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): It won't surprise you to know that I'm not going to sit here and try to negotiate the deal with all you guys. We're waiting to see if we can get an outcome that directly relates to the problem that brought this issue to the fore and I hope that we'll have one sooner rather than later.
[04:10:00] SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): I have a lot of faith in Senator Murphy and the other Democrats who are negotiating. I don't think that they would bring to us a deal that had no teeth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer has indicated he's hoping for a deal by the end of this week.
Now all eyes will be on Capitol Hill Thursday when the January 6 hearings begin. We now know that the wives and partners of three police officers who died after responding to the Capitol attack will be attending. This as new details emerge about the Secret Service considering ways to get then President Trump to the Capitol that day. CNN's Ryan Nobles has more.
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RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The first public hearing of the January 6 Select Committee since last fall is scheduled for Thursday night and we're still learning new information about this investigation and things that the committee and the Department of Justice are uncovering leading up to the days of January 6. Including a back and forth between the Trump White House and Secret Service.
It appears that the former president was trying to find a way to be able to go to the Capitol on January 6 along with his supporters. You will remember on the day of January 6 during his speech he told his supporters that he was planning to march with him. Now he never ended up doing that and his former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said in a book that he had written that he had never really planned to go to the Capitol, that that was just him ad-libbing at the time.
But now we're learning something different. That there was actually an effort by members of the Trump administration, the former president himself, to talk to Secret Service about trying to find a way to get him to the Capitol and that Secret Service at one point was even trying to come up with a plan to motorcade the president to the Capitol on that day. And it was a plan they ultimately scrapped.
Now, this is just an example of how the former president at that time was riling people up in and around Washington, D.C. on January 6 with the goal of trying to put pressure on members of Congress that were certifying the election results on that day.
Now, this is a part of the January 6 select committee's investigation, we're going to learn more about what they have uncovered at that first hearing Thursday in primetime 8:00 Eastern time, and we are now learning at least about some of the witnesses that will appear. And they will be people specifically connected to the Proud Boys including Nick Quested. Who was a documentarian who was embedded with the Proud Boys in a period of time leading up to January 6 and on the day itself. Committee members view him as a firsthand fact witness. He was essentially a fly on the wall with the Proud Boys.
And one of the things that the committee is trying to establish is this idea that what happened here on January 6 was not necessarily organic. It didn't just pop out of the blue, a group of peaceful protestors that got out of control. That there was actually an attempt at some premeditation, that there were people who came here on that day with the specific goal of breaking into the Capitol to put pressure on members of Congress.
And then beyond that, was there coordination beyond just this low level, were there even programs connections between members of the Trump campaign or even the former president himself. We're going to start to see this evidence unveiled Thursday night, most of this investigation has been conducted behind closed doors. Committee members ready to bring it out into the public eye Thursday night.
Ryan nobles, CNN, on Capitol Hill.
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FOSTER: Now an U.N. official says more than 2,000 people are part of a migrant caravan heading north from southern Mexico. The group which includes children, set out on foot from the city of Tapachula on Monday traveling towards the U.S. and most are Venezuelans. But there are also migrants from Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador and Honduras.
That caravan is bringing fresh attention to the issue of immigration as leaders from across the Western Hemisphere me at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. President Joe Biden, the host of the event, heads West in the coming hours but it's the growing list of leaders who've chosen not to attend that's now making headlines. CNN's Kaitlan Collins reports from Washington.
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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A presidential summit off to a rocky start before it's even under way.
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president is looking forward to leaving tomorrow to head to the summit.
COLLINS: President Biden set to host the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles and convene the leaders of North, Central and South America but several have declined his invitation.
ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): There cannot be a summit of the Americas if all the American continent countries do not participate.
COLLINS (voice-over): Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says he's boycotting after his authoritarian counterparts in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela weren't invited.
OBRADOR (through translator): I believe in the need to change the policy that has been in place for centuries. Exclusion, the desire to dominate.
COLLINS (voice-over): Now the summit that's supposed to focus on tackling immigration and re-establishing U.S. leadership is becoming more about the guest list as the White House defending its invitations.
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JEAN-PIERRE: While the interim government was not invited to participate in the main summit, they are welcome to participate in all three stakeholder forums.
COLLINS (voice-over): White House aides also pressed to explain where Biden draws the line as he refuses to extend invitations to those dictators while also planning a trip to oil rich Saudi Arabia which he once vowed to make a pariah for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
COLLINS: Does he still seek to make Saudi Arabia a pariah state?
JEAN-PIERRE: As president he believes if there is any way to get peace, he feels like he should take that direction. The president considers Saudi Arabia an important partner on a host of regional and global strategies.
COLLINS (voice-over): Democratic lawmakers arguing that Biden's hand was forced by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): The Saudis are the sole country that has a significant amount of quickly readily deliverable oil and gas that can help address this. This is the sort of compromise that makes politics painful.
COLLINS: In the end when it comes to the Summit of the Americas, the White House says 23 heads of state will be attending with several other nations sending deputies in their place. One leader that the president will be coming face-to-face with for the first time is the president of Brazil, they will be meeting during the Summit while the president is in Los Angeles.
Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.
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FOSTER: Goldman Sachs predicts global oil stocks will surge even higher after the coming months forecasting an average of $140 a barrel. And the rise is evident in the U.S. where gas prices skyrocketing. These numbers coming in from AAA just a few minutes ago. The national average for a gallon of gas is now $4.96, that's nearly $2 more than that this time last year. But gas isn't the only thing on the rise. The U.S. Treasury Secretary says inflation is at unacceptable levels. Janet Yellen was grilled by U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday about rising costs and she said Russia's invasion of Ukraine is to blame. One Senator posed another possible reason.
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SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-IA): Does corporate greed explain the broad based price increases consumers are currently facing?
JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: Well, I guess I see the bulk of inflation as reflecting demand and supply factors.
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FOSTER: Inflation is even trickling down retailers. Target announced incoming markdowns on some big ticket items. The chain is looking to move out, the company has notice the change in America's shopping habits and plans to make room for items that are in demand. That includes more groceries and everyday items. Target says the move will impact its profit estimates for this year.
Now the World Bank warns economic woes may soon be in store for many parts of the world, saying that some countries will struggle to avoid recession this year. Well, the bank downgraded its outlook for global growth from just over 4 percent to less than 3 percent. Officials blame the pandemic, supply chain issues and Russia's invasion of Ukraine for the new forecast.
The global food crisis could be looming as well. Ahead, how Russia's war in Ukraine is putting millions at risk of famine and what's being done to fix it.
Plus, a longtime member of Congress and a billionaire real estate developer are battling to be the next mayor of Los Angeles.
And record high temperatures put tens of millions of Americans under high heat alert alerts. Pedram tells us what to expect.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A Midsummer like heatwave building across the Western U.S. whereas many as 60 plus record temperatures possible over the next several days. We'll break it down. Also, severe weather threats, coming up in a few minutes.
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FOSTER: Nearly 13 million people across the Western United States are dealing with extreme heat that could last all week. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is in the CNN Weather Center with what to expect going into the weekend.
JAVAHERI: Max, Incredible to think just a couple weeks before summer officially getting under way here in North America and we're talking about excessive heat impacting at least 25 million Americans across the Southwestern U.S.
Massive dome of high pressure here with high pressure as it sits in place, it causes the air to sink. As air sinks, it warms by compression and precisely the ingredients here to create an excessive heatwave widespread across the southern and western area of the United States where as many as 60 plus record temperatures possible from Wednesday through Saturday. Get a hold of these numbers, climbing up to 108, 110 degrees. Phoenix 113 degrees as we approach Saturday afternoon.
And temperatures again over the next several days getting into the threshold of 110 plus, remarkable. Typically, the first time it happens is on around June 11, so not impressive in that sense. But what's impressive is the climatological average for that temperature is closer to, of course, the latter portion of July and certainly not the beginning of June.
But notice the last time it rained, 29th of March 2022, so also an excessive drought situation folks are dealing with across the region. A little farther towards the east, that is where the heat is going to begin to build across the Lone Star state over the next several days. And then beyond this, severe weather remain as concern, Max, the whale is back and even have a bit of an outline here for severe weather, level two in place for in some thunderstorms. And just to be clear, this is not something that we draw. This is provided to us via the National Weather Service -- that maybe they're having a little fun with the outlines here the last couple of days. But the threat level remain as two on a scale of 1 to 5, shift a little farther back towards the plains come say Thursday afternoon. The temperatures there, upper 70s in Kansas City. In Dallas, highs, Max, around 95 degrees.
FOSTER: Thanks to Pedram. A very stubborn whale.
Election night in America with voters casting ballots in primary elections in seven U.S. states. CNN projects that Democrats in Iowa have chosen retired Navy Adm. Mike Franken as their Senate candidate for November. He'll face 88-year-old Chuck Grassley, the longest- serving Republican in the Senate.
And in California, it looks like a runoff is likely in the Los Angeles mayor's race between long time member of Congress and a billionaire real estate developer who has never held public office. CNN's Kyung Lah reports.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I say Karen, you say Bass. Karen!
CROWD: Bass!
[04:25:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karen!
CROWD: Bass!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karen.
CROWD: Bass!
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Her name has been a part of California and D.C. politics for decades. Sixth term Congresswoman Karen Bass now aims closer to home running for Los Angeles Mayor.
REP. KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES MAYORAL CANDIDATE: Let's go Karen with those voters. LAH (voice-over): The clear front runner when she launched, something happened along that journey.
BASS: Well, I think $40 million explains that. I mean, I actually think anybody that had $40 million would be close to me.
LAH (voice-over): She's talking about billionaire developer Rick Caruso.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Think nobody can clean up L.A.? Meet Rick Caruso.
LAH (voice-over): The first time candidate is smashing spending records by self-funding his nearly $40 million campaign, blanketing all video screens.
RICK CARUSO, LOS ANGELES MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I'm running for mayor because the city we love is in a state of emergency. Rapid homelessness, people living in fear for their safety.
LAH (voice-over): The once registered Republican, then independent, who became a Democrat just this year is running on a law and order message. Caruso hones in on frustration over L.A.'s exploding homeless problem and rising crime rates. That message is resonating.
CARUSO: Have you voted?
LAH (voice-over): With Democrats like Nicole Couch.
NICOLE COUCH, CARUSO SUPPORTER: We are totally fed up with the gas prices, the homelessness, like every block we go on, there's homelessness.
CARUSO: They're looking for a change. They're tired of excuses. They're tired of having career politicians tell them we can't do anything about it. I think everybody in the city in this country are looking for somebody to lead in the middle. And the extreme right and the extreme left, it's just -- it's failed us.
LAH (voice-over): Anger in California is two largest cities is the political opening for Caruso, who is better known for being the builder of sanitized outdoor malls in L.A. He now appears poised to advance in California's open primary system. The top two vote getters had to the general regardless of party. But one could win outright in the primary if either grabs more than 50 percent of the vote.
LAH: Why is a mall guy even a factor here?
DAVE JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC MEDIA CONSULTANT: He does have a message that's tapping into the anxiety and the frustrations that voters are feeling. It's clear that there is a slice of the electorate that want something different. They don't want someone who's in political office. They want an outsider.
LAH: Both the Bass and Caruso campaigns do not expect a final decision on primary day. They fully intend that the real battle for these two campaigns will be taking place in the runoff in the general election. Now while you are seeing people show up and voting and people here at least at this polling place appear to be quite engaged, turnout has been quite low so far. Only about one out of five ballots that have gone out in Los Angeles have been returned. A rate of about 20 percent.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Still ahead, a new report from Russian state media is raising concerns about the fate of Ukrainian soldiers taken prisoner in Mariupol.
Plus, it's one of the most well-known guns on the market with a notorious reputation yet gun owners love the AR-15 rifle. Coming up, they'll tell us why.
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