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D.C. Police: 1 Killed, 3 Wounded In Mass Shooting At Funeral Home; Feds Recommend How 7 States Should Split Colorado River; Taiwanese FM: "We Are Ready" If China Wants To Launch A War; Writers' Guild Holds Strike Vote As Contract Talks Stall. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired April 11, 2023 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:33:00]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: Breaking right now, if you can believe it, yet another mass shooting, this time at a funeral home in Washington, D.C., this afternoon. That's according to D.C. Metropolitan Police. The chief said four people were shot. One of them was killed.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: He added the gunfire began just as people had been leaving the building.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF ROBERT CONTEE, METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: Point, it appears that several people who were in the block were specifically targeted. We're unsure why that is. We're not sure why these people were targeted.

More -- more or less why they were targeted at a funeral. We don't understand that. It is tough to wrap your head around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: And it is tough to wrap your head around. There is no word at this hour of the condition of three people who did survive that shooting.

The chief said, again, they were on the sidewalk, as you heard there, leaving when the gunfire began.

After several drought-stricken states couldn't agree amongst themselves and how to they could share the resources from the Colorado River, the federal government is now stepping in with a plan of its own.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, it is recommending how to best divide the river's water amongst seven states that include California, Arizona and Nevada.

The crisis as a result of decades of overuse, combined with years of drought, all worsened by the climate crisis.

People in cities like Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas could all see their lives changed because of this new rule.

CNN chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir, joins us now to explain.

This is fascinating and frightening at the same time, Bill. So it's a what is the government's plan and how extreme could these cuts actually be for residents?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're going to take them to the maximum that environmental impact studies will allow. That means two-million-acre-feet of water cuts going forward.

That is as much as Arizona users and an entire year. That's 684 billion gallons of water that will have to be cut.

And they laid out three scenarios. One where the rights holders, the farmers and tribes, who have the rights to the most water, get theirs. And then in which case all the cuts would have to be absorbed by Los Angeles and Las Vegas and cities like that.

[14:35:01]

They do one where it's equitable, where everybody shares the pain across the seven basis states. And then the third option is to do nothing and watch the entire system crash.

Right now, it is about a quarter full. The tank of water out west is a quarter full right now. It holds it, right now, 13-million-acre-feet of water. So that two million, you can see the percentage that they want to cut.

But really, the final decision isn't going to come until August. This is sort of like the parents sitting the family down, saying, here's our options, you guys figure out the way to go forward.

But at the end of the day, the 40 million people who live out west will have to live with less water.

HILL: So that's what ultimately is going to happen. The fact that we got to this point where the parents are sitting the kids down going, OK, you've got to figure this out, here are your options.

What was this sticking point amongst the states? Why couldn't they figure out something on their own?

WEIR: It's basically California versus everybody else. California has the irrigation districts and southern California has these grandfathered in rights where they take the brunt of the water at the expense of the upper basin states in Utah and Colorado that actually are doing more with less.

Places like Las Vegas are doing an amazing job at conservation. But there's just not enough to go around. And the law of the river was written in the twenties after one of the wettest years ever.

So they've been over allocated water for a century now. And it's time for people to come together and figure out an equitable way forward. When you've got cities and ranchers and tribes and ski resorts and golf courses all competing over every drop, you can see how it gets very complicated.

The hope is it doesn't end up in court as the system crashes. But it's a -- it's a decision time. And it's not an easy one, no matter which way you go.

HILL: Yes, definitely not. But certainly important that we know.

Bill, appreciate it. Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: The Chinese military says that it is ready to fight after days of simulated military exercises concerning Taiwan. Up next, Taiwan's foreign minister responds exclusively to CNN about that threat.

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[14:41:18]

GOLODRYGA: China's military says that it is ready to fight after completing three days of large-scale combat exercise around Taiwan. The exercises follow the Taiwanese president's trip to the U.S. last week.

HILL: And now, in an exclusive interview, Taiwan's foreign minister tells CNN's chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, that China is, quote, "trying to get ready to launch a war against Taiwan."

Jim is with us now.

Boy, those are sobering words. to put it mildly. What more did the foreign minister tell you?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you that we watch these exercises from the outside with alarm, the scale of them that the apparent target here, right, a military attack on invasion of Taiwan.

So I asked the foreign minister, how does Taiwan look at these exercises from the inside? And with genuine alarm and seriousness, because what they see in the scale of these things in the seriousness our preparations, training for military attack on the island. There's genuine concern there.

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SCIUTTO: Is Beijing, in your view, threatening Taiwan with war?

JAUSHIEH JOSEPH WU, TAIWANESE FOREIGN MINISTER: Yes, indeed. Look at the military sizes, exercises and also their rhetoric. There seems to be trying to get ready to launch a war against Taiwan.

But if we look at the U.N. charter, the most fundamental event in resolving international dispute should be through peaceful means. And Beijing's way of channeling the differences between Taiwan and China is through coercion, military threat. and the threat to use force against Taiwan.

And these are all unacceptable. And therefore, the Taiwanese government look at the Chinese military threat as something that cannot be accepted. And we condemned it.

SCIUTTO: Does Taiwan have today what it needs to defend itself?

WU: Yes, we do. We have been a procuring military arsenals from the United States for a long time. And when President Biden was in office, all these years. They have announced a new batch of arms sale to Taiwan.

And we have also been increasing our military training so that we are ready at any moment if China wants to launch a war against Taiwan.

And I think in -- in in a war situation, the determination is probably more important than the military equipment.

And this is also going to impact economically the rest of the world. And therefore, the international community, especially democracies, should tell China to stop threatening war and to stop preparing for war against Taiwan.

SCIUTTO: These exercises, of course, followed the visit of the Taiwanese president of the U.S., including meetings, among them with the House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Is there any regret on the Taiwanese side about this visit? Is it your view, your concern that the costs were too high?

WU: No. The president of Taiwan, where it's President Lee, President Chen, President Marwood, and now President Tsai, we're being visiting our diplomatic allies in Latin America and with transits through the United States. And it's been going on for decades.

And therefore, China should not make any exception out of these transit through the United States. China cannot dictate how Taiwan makes friends. And China cannot dictate how our friends want to show support to Taiwan.

[14:44:59]

SCIUTTO: You mentioned outside support for Taiwan's defense. More than once, President Biden has said that the U.S. will defend Taiwan militarily if China were to attack.

As you know, oftentimes, his advisers will then say that the U.S. policy has not changed. But then the president will say it again, the U.S. will defend Taiwan militarily.

Does Taiwan believed that the U.S. would come to Taiwan's defense militarily if China were to invade?

WU: Well, there are different things the United States can do in any event of a Chinese military attack against Taiwan.

But we have also made it very clear defending Taiwan is our own responsibility. It's our freedom. And it's our democratic way of life and it's all sovereignty. And we want to defend ourselves.

And what we see is that the United States seems to be more determined than ever in the creating a situation that China would know that its military attack against Taiwan is going to be associated with a heavy cost. And we appreciate the United States for having this posture.

SCIUTTO: Before we go, there are differing assessments of when China might make an attempt to attack Taiwan militarily.

There's a U.S. general who made quite some headlines several weeks ago when he said, be prepared by 2025. There have been intelligence assessments that China might try by 2027, or at least that she has told his military to be ready by then.

From Taiwan's point of view, has it become a question not of if but of when China might take military action?

WU: It is our perspective that China may use force against Taiwan. But if we learned -- what China has learned over the years is that they want to use military force at the time when they have to. But sometimes they want to cross the enemies without the actual use of force.

And we are seeing different kinds of perspectives being in discussion here in Taiwan. But normally, when China is going to use this military force against Taiwan, Taiwan needs to be prepared.

If China sees that Taiwan is prepared, Taiwan has adequate defense capabilities, and ensure that Chinese leaders will think twice before they decide to use force against Taiwan.

And no matter whether it is 2025 or 2027, or even beyond, Taiwan simply needs to get ready.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: I also asked the foreign minister about comments from the French President Emmanuel Macron over this weekend after meeting with the Chinese president, in which he seemed to suggest that France didn't want to get involved in the Taiwan flap come out on the side of the U.S. here.

And now, French officials have since said those comments were misinterpreted.

But I asked the foreign minister how Taiwan interpreted that comment and they say they've reached out to the French government to get clarity to see exactly what he meant.

So they certainly are watching those comments and the comments of the other foreign leaders with great concern right now in the midst of these exercises -- Erica and Bianna? HILL: It was quite puzzling to hear from President Macron. Taiwan really putting their money where their mouth is, dramatically increasing their defense budget and spending over the past few years.

Great reporting there, Jim Sciutto. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Thanks, guys. Good to see you.

GOLODRYGA: Good to see you.

We'll be right back.

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[14:51:55]

HILL: There is trouble in Hollywood. Later tonight, thousands of writers, on what are likely your favorite film and TV shows, are going to vote whether to hit the picket line.

GOLODRYGA: Contract negotiations have taken a two-week hiatus between the Writers' Guild of America and studio executives.

The last guild strike lasted for 100 days and virtually shut down studio production. Now the current contract expires in less than three weeks.

CNN business and politics correspondent, Vanessa Yurkevich, is here with more on this.

So, Vanessa, these negotiations have been going on since late March. What's really an issue here?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, this strike vote this evening really ups the ante for potential Hollywood showdown between the Writers' Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

These negotiations have been going on for a few weeks now. But what this strike authorization vote does is really set the scene for a potential strike if the two sides can't come to an agreement by May 1st.

And here's what's on the table. The Writers' Guild of America is calling for increased compensation. They are asking for residuals from feature films and also from streaming platforms.

They want to end the abuse of smaller writers' rooms, and they want to increase contributions to pension and health funds.

And this is really affecting writers from the lowest rung to the most famous writers we know from hit TV shows.

Listen to a writer from the show "Yellowjackets" on Hulu.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ASHLEY LYLE, GUILD MEMBER/SHOWRUNNER, "YELLOWJACKETS": I think that there is a strong reluctance that is not surprising on the part of part of these corporations to keep that piece of the pie that they've loopholed through streaming away from writers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: And actually, "Yellowjackets" is on Showtime. But some of the studios that are involved in these negotiations are Amazon, NBC, Sony and CNN's parent company, Warner Brothers Discovery.

One industry insider points out that some of these companies that you see on your screen have actually seen millions of dollars in losses over the last couple of years.

[14:55:01]

And some are even doing layoffs. Disney announcing that they're laying off 7000 jobs.

But currently the two sides, on a two-week hiatus. They're going to get back to the table starting sometime next week.

But, Bianna and Erica, this is the first of three big Hollywood contract negotiations coming up. Next, we have the Directors Guild. And then, a little bit later in June, we have the Screen Actors' Guild that are going to be negotiating brand-new contracts.

High stakes is going to be a busy summer for Hollywood -- Guys?

HILL: Yes, it certainly isn't really important to pay to pay attention to also some of the some of the things that the writers are asking for.

Vanessa Yurkevich, really appreciate it. Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: We'll soon Louisville officials are set to release bodycam footage from the deadly bank shooting. This as authorities have a much clearer picture of how and how quickly it all played out. We're live on the scene with the very latest details.

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