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Senior GOP Lawmaker Predicts Indictments after Hutchinson Testimony; Poll Suggests Roe Reversal May Have Awakened Democratic Base; FDA Votes in Favor of Updating Boosters to Target Omicron; U.S. to Offer Monkeypox Vaccines in States with High Rates; 2 Men Charged in Deaths of 53 Migrants; Property Seized from Black Owners Returned 98 Years Later. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired June 29, 2022 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:31:09]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: A senior House Republican who did not back Trump's impeachment now predicts indictments are likely. This following that explosive testimony on the Hill yesterday.

And CNN's Melanie Zanona has this reporting for us.

Melanie, what else are you hearing for Republicans in response to yesterday's testimony?

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, I will say that, publicly, Republicans are really downplaying the testimony. We have not heard anything from GOP leaders yet.

But privately, quite a few of them have admitted to me that they found this testimony to be quite damaging.

That senior House Republican that you mentioned that predicted that indictments could be coming from this also told me they thought Cassidy Hutchinson was a very credible witness.

They told me, quote, Hutchinson looked like Meadows' shadow. She was more than just an assistant. She was more like a chief of staff."

And then another lawmaker told me, after watching the hearing, they wanted to throw their lunch against the wall. Which is something we learned that Trump apparently did when he was angry.

And a third Republican said they thought this hearing really proved that Trump did want to be at the capitol on January 6th.

Now, the fact that they are all saying this, on background, anonymously, and not on the record, I think, is also telling.

As of right now, there are no signs that Trump's support, at least on Capitol Hill, is waning in anyway. But I will say that there does seem to be a growing recognition inside

the GOP that there could be a legal repercussion for Trump and for some of his allies.

And I think it's also important to point out that one of the relations we learned yesterday was that Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani both requested pardons, joining a growing list of lawmakers who have also done so -- Ana?

CABRERA: Melanie Zanona, thank you for that update and that reporting on how, again, the GOP is looking at all of this.

Joining us now is CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein.

Ron, it really is stunning that a senior House Republican, who didn't back impeachment, feels indictments are likely. And yet, this lawmaker still won't publicly say it on camera.

What does that tell you?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, look, this is in stark contrast with the Watergate era. People forget that Richard Nixon's approval rating among Republicans fell 40 points from January 7th to the point he was in August of '74.

And a big of that, Ana, was that there were Republicans at every stage of the investigation who were willing to step in front of the camera or participating in the investigation and say this is significant, this is important, we have to pay attention to it.

The contrast is overwhelming here. Where you had voices like Rubio, Cruz, Stefanik, before the hearings even began, preemptively dismiss them as garbage, in Rubio's words.

And so few have been willing to step out and make the case that, look, what with we are learning is deeply disturbing.

CABRERA: Right. They won't accept the facts in what is being revealed.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

CABRERA: They've made up their mind ahead of time, as you point out.

Trump's response to yesterday's testimony, he hardly knows Cassidy Hutchinson. He denied grabbing the wheel, denied throwing food, called it fake.

You know, big picture, most GOP lawmakers appear to feel like Trump's part of the denial will work and that these hearings won't politically impact their party during the midterm.

What do you think?

BROWNSTEIN: First, I think the impact on Trump and the impact on the Republican Party has to be separated. I mean, I felt right away on January 6th that that event reduced his chances of ever being president again.

It's not going to crater his support. That's very clear. But will it lower the ceiling? Will there be some voters who are attracted to his policies who would otherwise say, this is a preview of what we are going to get if we trust him again with the power of the presidency?

I think that's a real slice of the electorate. And it's certainly reenforced after all the revelations of the January 6th committee were not done and the possibility of Trump being indicted for his behavior.

What it means for Republicans in the midterms is something else. Certainly, there are a lot of voters who will be voting on satisfaction with inflation and Biden's overall performance.

[13:35:00]

But I do think that the January 6th -- the committee's revelations, along with the abortion decisions, along with the gun decisions, do have the potential to change the equation in terms of Democratic turnout.

Traditionally, in the midterm, the party holding the White House, less enthusiasm to vote. Will the voters who saw stopping Trump as a mission in the last three elections come back and see the need to do it again? And that's now more of an open question than it was before.

CABRERA: To your point about this sort of convergence of these different things that just happened within the last three weeks or last couple of weeks.

Even when you look at this hearing and the hearings that came right before it, and you have the SCOTUS abortion ruling that came out, and that's very unpopular with the American public.

According to a new NPR/PBS/Maris poll, when voters were asked, if the election were today, would you vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate for the House, Democrats now lead Republicans. Look at that, 48-41 percent.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

CABRERA: That's a 10-point swing since April. Again, one poll. That seems like a big jump, no?

BROWNSTEIN: Right. It does. Look, it is a big jump. We have to see if it sustains over other polls over time. Democrats have generally been struggling on that measure.

I think we know two things for sure about this midterm election. We know the Republican base is going to turn out because they are alienated from what Biden is doing. That's what always happens in midterms. The party in the White House is very energized.

We know that there will be a lot of swing voters who are going to be voting on gas prices and grocery prices. And that is going to be a tough audience for Democrats. The part that we haven't known, to me, the biggest uncertainty is what

does the Democratic base do? There have been calculations, Ana, that there are over 90 million separate individuals who came out to vote against Trump in the Republican Party in either '16, '18 or '20.

Historically, as I said, those voters are less motivated when their party is in the White House in a midterm election.

But everything that's happening, everything that's happening, the January 6th revelations, the Supreme Court decision, I think, has installed in Democratic voters a real sense of alarm.

Now, part of that is frustration at their own leaders for not doing more. And I think there will be pressure on Biden and congressional leaders to show more fight over the unfortunate decision in the broader context of democracy than they have.

But there's now at least the potential that Democrats have a message that can energize their base in the same way that Republicans are likely to do.

CABRERA: Ron Brownstein, never a dull moment. Just wait a minute, right?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

CABRERA: You never know what is going to drop next.

Thank you very much for your analysis.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

CABRERA: It's a growing health crisis. Ahead, how the U.S. is ramping up the fight against monkeypox as it continues to spread.

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CABRERA: We are back with two big vaccine headlines today for two different viruses. The FDA voting to update COVID booster shots this fall. Plus, monkeypox. Right now, a major push to get people most at risk vaccinated as this outbreak spreads.

Let's bring in CNN senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen.

Elizabeth, first on COVID, the Omicron variant is the reason behind this booster change. What do we need to know?

DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Ana, you don't have to be a scientist to know that Omicron is everywhere. It is basically all of the COVID out there in the United States. We all know someone who has had it recently.

And so what the CDC and others are saying is, hey -- the FDA in this case, the committee of experts are saying is, hey, let's have a vaccine for the fall that will include Omicron.

So what it's looking like is it will be a vaccine that protects specifically tailored to Omicron as well as the vaccine that we have all been getting over the past two years or so -- Ana?

CABRERA: OK, let's talk about monkeypox as well. The White House just announced some steps to beef up its response to this virus.

Just how bad is this outbreak getting?

COHEN: So, Ana, let's take a look at the numbers. If we look in the United States, there are about 300 cases in 27 states. If we look internationally, there's nearly 5,000 cases in about 50 different countries.

The states that have the highest case counts for monkeypox are California, Illinois, Florida and D.C.

So what the federal government has announced is a plan to give vaccinations to certain high-risk people. Now, this is different than COVID. It's a vaccine after you have been exposed.

Let's take a look at who they are recommending this vaccine for. They are recommending anyone that has a sexual partner diagnosed with monkeypox. Also, gay men who had recent multiple sex partners or close physical contact with someone who had monkeypox.

And for that middle one, gay men with recent multiple sex partners, that is, if you are at an event where it's known that there was monkeypox or where it's suspected, or if you live in an area where there has been monkeypox noted.

Now, you will note here, you don't need to know that you had sex with someone or had close contact with someone who had monkeypox.

It's enough to know, you what, I was, for example, at a Pride event. A gay man who was at a pride event and had a lot of close physical contact, and we know there was monkeypox at that event, that's where the CDC says we recommend a vaccine.

[13:45:05]

Interestingly enough, the CDC does not have very detailed data on how many vaccinations have been given, who exactly they were given to, all those details. They are trying to get more data on that.

It's been a real problem throughout COVID and other kinds of outbreaks that the CDC doesn't always get the data they need from states and cities -- Ana?

CABRERA: OK. But right now, the count is about 300 cases confirmed here in the U.S.

COHEN: Right.

CABRERA: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you for your reporting. COHEN: Thank you.

CABRERA: And now we have an update on that horrific discovery in Texas. Two men are now charged after dozens of migrants died in a sweltering tractor-trailer. What more we are learning.

Plus, seized from a black family nearly 100 years ago, now a California beach is finally being returned. That incredible story just ahead.

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[13:50:21]

CABRERA: The death toll in San Antonio is growing. At least 53 migrants are dead after they were abandoned inside a semi-truck in the sweltering Texas heat.

Authorities say the victims were from Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. And some may have been children.

CNN's Rosa Flores is in San Antonio for us.

Rosa, two men are now facing charges. What are you learning about these suspects and the victims?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, about the victims, we know very little, Ana. And according to officials here, that's because of the nature of this particular incident.

This is, according to authorities, a human smuggling incident, so a lot of these individuals either did not have identification with them or they had multiple forms of I.D.s on them. And so authorities are trying to sort that out.

And this involves government officials from foreign countries as well.

So the officials here in Bexar County in San Antonio say that no one has been officially identified. And so they are still in communication with Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and also Guatemala to try to figure all that out.

Now, about the individuals who have been charged so far, two people have been charged. And this is according to charging documents. Two Mexican nationals were charged with weapons charges by an undocumented person, which is a charge that carries up to 10 years in prison.

I should add that no one that we know of so far has been actually charged with human smuggling. But we're monitoring that to see if that materializes here pretty soon.

Now, just to provide a little more context about what we're seeing on the border here, and I can tell you from covering the border extensively, there have been a record number of individuals who have been attempting to cross the U.S./Mexico border.

And it's very dangerous. I've been to some of those areas where people have attempted to cross, and there have been multiple deaths recorded.

Here are the latest stats. In 2001, 650 people died attempting to cross the U.S. border. That's according to International Organization for Migration.

Now, when it comes to the attempts of search and rescues, because a lot of times, Ana, we don't hear covered, is that Customs and Border Protection go out in a lot of these areas and attempt to rescue migrants in very dangerous situations.

This fiscal year alone, more than 14,000 times they've attempted to search and rescue migrants. And again, this is just a little background as we see that, here in San Antonio, the death toll increases to 53 -- Ana?

CABRERA: Awful situation right now. Dozens of people who are dead.

Thank you, Rosa Flores.

Now to southern California where this stretch of beachfront property worth about $20 million has just been returned to its rightful owners. The town of Manhattan Beach seized it from a black family nearly 100 years ago.

CNN's Stephanie Elam has been following this story.

Stephanie, explain this property's history and this push to have it returned.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana, it's one of those stories you normally don't hear an outcome like this but it's really important to hear.

Because this is the first time in Los Angeles County's history that they're returning property that was seized by the government back to the rightful family that does own the deed for this land.

Here's what happened. I can tell you this started in 1912 when Willa and Charles Bruce bought this one parcel of land right above the sand on the beach in Manhattan Beach.

They ended up getting two parcels. And they started a very vibrant business for black people to come down and enjoy the beach.

Remember, black people couldn't go to the beach everywhere. They could go to the beach here, though, because this is where they owned it.

They owned this property. And it was a thriving business known as Bruce's Beach. And then some of the white neighbors didn't like that. And by 1924, Manhattan Beach used Eminent Domain to snatch the property from them.

This became a big fight and ended up yesterday with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voting unanimously to return the property to the great, great grandsons of the Bruces so that they can take back this land. Now, for now, it is being leased by Los Angeles County because there's

a lifeguard training facility there, a park. And so they'll lease it for about $413,000 a year. But obviously, the lingering effects.

Take a listen to what one of the family's spokesmen had to say about this legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF DUANE "YELLOW FEATHER" SHEPARD, HISTORIAN & BRUCE FAMILY SPOKESMAN: You know, it's very important for people to understand as well, more so the money that was lost, it's our hearts that were lost.

We lost our family to this. Charles and Willa Bruce died essentially five years later, five to seven years later, after all of this happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:55:10]

ELAM: So you think about all the generational wealth that was lost.

And the county and the family both saying this is just the beginning because there were other black families that also had their properties stolen by municipalities all over the country -- Ana?

CABRERA: OK. Hopefully, it gives hope to those other families.

Thank you, Stephanie Elam, for your reporting.

Finally, a quick programming note. I hope you'll join me and my colleagues for coast-to-coast fireworks, incredible music from some of the biggest stars. Celebrate "THE FOURTH IN AMERICA" with us, live July 4th starting at 7:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

And I will be co-anchoring the later hours of our coverage as the celebrations move across the country. So please join me.

That's it for us today. I'll see you back here tomorrow, same time and place. You can always find me on Twitter as well, @AnaCabrera.

The news continues right after this.

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