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Gunman At Large In Texas Mass Shooting; First U.S.-Led Convoy Carrying Americans Reaches Port Sudan; New York Mayor Tells FEMA To Stop Funding Cities Sending Migrants North; DHS Says Border Facilities Reach Capacity Amid Spike In Migrants; Republicans Grill Teachers Union Head On COVID Closures; Daughter Of Alexey Navalny Attends White House Correspondents' Dinner; Interview With Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN); China Flies Twin-Tailed Scorpion Combat Drone Around Taiwan. Aired 7- 8p ET
Aired April 29, 2023 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:56]
JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You're back live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.
In Texas, the FBI has joined this manhunt for a man suspected of killing five of his neighbors. Police say this 38-year-old opened fire on a family next door when they asked him to stop firing a rifle in his front yard because their baby was trying to sleep. Now five people are dead including an 8-year-old child. Minutes ago the sheriff and the FBI held a news conference in that area saying the suspect may have fled from that vicinity.
This latest gruesome attack unfolded about 40 miles northeast of Houston. And CNN's Ryan Young is following all the latest developments for us. He joins us live.
Ryan, the sheriff and the FBI, they just wrapped up a news conference a few moments ago. What did we learn?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim. This has been troubling all day long as we've been following developments. And of course we'll put that face up one more time because they're looking for Francisco Oropeza. But what we're learning from the sheriff's department and the FBI right now, they seem like they were tracking a device which we believe was a cell phone. And at some point they were getting pings from that cell phone. They've now located the device but they have not located this man.
Let's all remember that this man apparently was asked to stop shooting his gun in the front yard. Then eventually went next door according to the sheriff's department and opened fire on this family that was inside this home, killing five people, including an 8-year-old. And as we look at the ages that have just been released, along with some of the names here, we see a 25-year-old, a 21-year-old, a 31-year-old, an 18-year-old, and an 8-year-old, all shot during the shooting.
This is something that has shaken that community. Listen to the FBI talk about who they consider this man to be right now. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES SMITH, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, HOUSTON FIELD OFFICE: We consider him armed and dangerous, and we're not going to stop until we actually arrest him and bring him into custody. But he is out there and he's a threat to the community. So I don't want anyone to think that that's something different than that. He is a threat to the community and we need the community's help to hopefully locate him soon to take him off the streets tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: Jim, yes, you see the sheriff Greg Capers sitting right next to the FBI agent as they were talking. It also appears that he may have changed his clothing at some point as well. So they're not sure right now. They're not saying whether or not he was communicating with someone. They believe he's still on foot. Of course that's why that picture that we're putting up is so important because the more eyes on that picture, which they weren't sharing earlier in the day, maybe the more phone calls they can get into their centers that they've set up, to increase this manhunt.
So we now know they have a device, electronic device, that they were tracking at some point. That's no longer with this man. And you have those five people who were killed inside this home. On top of that, Jim, there were two other children in their home that two of the dead women's bodies were on top of because it appears they were shielding those kids from the bullets. They were all shot execution style which just seem so sickening when you think about all that has taken place here.
ACOSTA: It is just so, so awful. And we should note the FBI emphasizing that this suspect who is on the run right now is now considered armed and dangerous. That he should be considered armed and dangerous. All right, Ryan Young, thank you very much for that. We appreciate it.
Now to the escalating conflict in Sudan. The first U.S.-led convoy to evacuate American citizens from Khartoum has reached Port Sudan. The U.S. initially resisted spearheading a civilian evacuation despite last weekend's successful airlift of American embassy personnel.
CNN's Oren Liebermann has the latest.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Jim, this comes after growing pressure on the administration and on the State Department from U.S. private citizens in Sudan to do more. The sense we have gotten speaking with some of them is there is frustration, even anger at what they see is the lack of action from the U.S. to evacuate American citizens from Sudan. Especially as we've seen so many other countries get their own citizens out and helped the U.S. by getting American citizens out.
So this convoy traveled hundreds of miles over many hours from Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, where there is renewed fighting, despite the ceasefire. All the way to Port Sudan where there are U.S. Navy ships and other assets to help them get to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, where there are American personnel to help them essentially continue on their journey, to get them where they're trying to go.
[19:05:04]
Now this played out over the last several days. On Thursday, U.S. citizens who were interested in leaving Sudan and were already in touch with the State Department got a notification that the U.S. government is planning to assist U.S. nationals and family members with their valid U.S. travel document to depart Khartoum in the coming days. Then one day later, on Friday, they got a notification that they should bring food, water, and travel essentials, limited to one bag only, meet at a golf course, and that's when the convoy left.
The State Department hasn't said how many people were on the convoy but they do say that hundreds of American citizens have evacuated between this convoy, other convoys run by other countries, and some of the military flights we've seen coming out.
CNN has also spoken to American citizens who have come out of Sudan on other convoys. They describe it essentially as a harrowing journey, going through checkpoints between the two warring factions. So you get a sense of how difficult that journey can be. Meanwhile, the State Department now saying if you're an American citizen who remains in Sudan and is interested in leaving, they have some contact info suggesting that there may be more efforts to get American citizens out. This as the situation in Sudan deteriorates -- Jim.
ACOSTA: All right. Oren, thank you very much.
Two big developments to tell you about involving the recent migrant surge in the U.S. Homeland Security officials tell CNN detention facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border are beyond capacity. This as the federal government gets ready to lift pandemic-era health restrictions on U.S. entry.
Meanwhile in New York City, the mayor there, Eric Adams, is asking FEMA to stop sending federal funding to cities whose leaders are busing migrants to the Big Apple. The mayor said the city's overburdened shelter system is also struggling to keep up.
CNN's Polo Sandoval is following this from New York for us, so is White House reporter Priscilla Alvarez.
Priscilla, we'll get to you in just a second. But, Polo, what are you hearing on your end?
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Jim, when you hear from city officials here in New York, there is sort of this consensus and also a deep sense of preparing for welcoming these asylum seekers in a post-Title 42 world may look like. Currently, they're arriving at about 200 a day. Many of them coming here on their own after hearing about some of the services that are available here in New York.
But there is concern, especially when you see some of those pictures coming from some 2,000 miles south of here, along the southern border, that an increase in the coming weeks, perhaps months, were likely translate to an increase in people arriving here in New York. So far about 58,000 have arrived in New York. Of them about 36,000 are still in the care of New York City officials, providing housing for them. And that is really racking up quite the tab, with well over $800 million already in spending.
And if those projections continue, according to the city, that number is likely to perhaps reach close to $1.5 billion by the end of June. And so that is why we're hearing really that critical voice coming from New York City, Eric Adams, directed at the White House. They feel that a potential solution is in the lack of the executive branch. Not only Eric Adams but mayors from dozens of other cities are of the idea that they would like to see the administration do more.
Potentially even extending a form of humanitarian relief that would make work authorizations available for some of these individuals because that is really at the heart of this onion, Jim. We've been telling the story for the last year of the New York City migrant crisis. Time and time again we hear not just from officials but also from the migrants themselves that, you know, this asylum process, it comes with bureaucracies and it comes with backlogs.
ACOSTA: Right.
SANDOVAL: So they would like to get to work to sort of lessen the financial burden on the city. And so that's really what leads to this potential political friction between Eric Adams and his fellow Democrat in the White House.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. And Priscilla, what are the latest numbers on migrants in U.S. custody? I mean, they are seeing a surge down there and they're expecting the numbers to grow even more.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Jim, a Homeland Security official tells me that there are more than 20,500 migrants in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody as of this morning. That is a number that fluctuates throughout the day. But what it tells us is that the number of migrants starting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border is increasing in anticipation of that COVID-era restriction known as Title 42 ending.
Now that is going to end on May 11th when the public health emergency also ends. And what it means is that authorities are going to have to go back to decades-long protocols to process migrants. But that is difficult to do when there is unprecedented mass migration in the western hemisphere. So administration officials have been racing behind the scenes to set policies in place and to make sure that they have capacity at the border as the date approaches.
So this week the White House announced that they are going to set up regional centers in Latin America where migrants can apply to come to the U.S. legally. They also underscored programs that they've already launched where migrants can apply from where they are to come to the United States.
[19:10:02] Now, also, they're going to have to focus on the border and setting up capacity there because as we just mentioned those numbers are going up. So Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas making it quite clear that this is a challenge in the coming weeks. And as you and I know, Jim, it is also a vulnerability for this White House which has been getting criticism from the left and the right on the handling of the U.S.-Mexico border.
ACOSTA: And Priscilla, the White House Correspondents' Dinner is tonight, obviously. And President Biden is expected to attend. He's been there before. He's going to be there tonight. But what is his message going to be for journalists? Because there's one journalist in particular, Evan Gershkovich, who is still being detained in Russia. And I have to think that that's going to mentioned in the president's remarks.
ALVAREZ: Yes. White House officials tell CNN that he is going to talk about wrongfully detained Americans. And that includes the "Wall Street Journal" reporter that you mentioned. And we should also note that in the crowd will be one of those Americans who was wrongfully detained by Russia and that's Brittney Griner. She is in attendance with her wife as a guest of CBS. That's according to a CBS spokesperson.
So he's going to talk about this, but this is also the first time that he'll be attending after launching his re-election campaign. And so we can expect that he'll talk about his re-election campaign priorities, as well as some of the topical issues that he usually touches on from the podium like the economy and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
But, Jim, this is also a time when the president tends to flex his comedic muscles so we'll hear a little bit of that, too, during his speech tonight.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. And we should note to our viewers, we did see Brittney Griner show up on the red carpet at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. So she is there in attendance as well. So that certainly appears to be a theme that we'll be seeing playing out later tonight.
Priscilla Alvarez, Polo Sandoval, thanks very much to both of you.
In just a few moments, you're going to want to stay tuned for this. Comedian and former U.S. senator Al Franken joins us. He'll of course talk about how he provided the entertainment at the White House Correspondents' Dinner during the Clinton years. So stay tuned for that. And you'll see the White House Correspondents' Dinner live right here on CNN.
President Biden and host Roy Wood Junior, he was on with us earlier today. That was funny. That was interesting. Anyway, Roy and the president will be headlining that event. That's at the top of the hour coming up in about 50 minutes from now, right here on CNN.
In the meantime, critics this week took aim at the head of the American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten. The topic, COVID and school closings. She joins us live next to talk about that. Plus, one of the House Republicans who voted against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's debt ceiling plan. We'll talk to him in just a few moments as well.
Stay with us. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:16:52]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDI WEINGARTEN, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS: We spent every day from February on trying to get schools open. We knew that remote education was not a substitute for opening schools.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Now that teachers' union head Randi Weingarten on Capitol Hill this week, trying to convince lawmakers that she fought to end school closures early on in the pandemic. This morning, the former education secretary Betsy DeVos joined the long list of Republicans accusing Weingarten of revisionist history.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETSY DEVOS, FORMER EDUCATION SECRETARY: It's very clear from all of their actions during the pandemic that they were holding kids hostage to political demands, taking advantage of a pandemic, of a crisis to meet the demands that they had.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And joining us now to respond is the head of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten.
Randi, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it. As you saw there, former Secretary DeVos went on to say that your group resisted working with the Trump administration to reopen schools. What is your response to what the former secretary had to say?
WEINGARTEN: I mean, you know, the former secretary went to a school with me once in April of 2017 and never answered or engaged with us again since that time. So, you know, we tried to actually get them to engage with us and help work with us. But they wouldn't do it. And, you know, there is a new COVID study out by researchers from around the country that said it would have been good if the United States did what Europe did, which is emphasize and prioritize schools over bars and restaurants and give us the mitigating circumstances.
So the people who are engaging in revisionist history are Betsy DeVos and the people who support Donald Trump. But frankly, that issue is in my mind beside the point. They're trying to figure out who to blame for 2020 and we're trying to help make sure that kids recover in 2023. And so they didn't want to deal with us in 2020. Let's make sure we do the things we need to do to help kids recover in
2023, which is engage in and overcome social, emotional, academic issues. Like by doing, you know, experiential learning, and hands-on learning.
ACOSTA: Right.
WEINGARTEN: And let's have more and more community schools. So the last thing I'll say, Jim, is instead of cutting the budget, let's make sure we do this stuff now.
ACOSTA: Yes. Well, when the Trump administration initially tried to reopen schools in the fall of 2020, you gave an interview to the "Guardian" saying it was reckless and callous and cruel, adding it's as if they wanted to create chaos. I mean, you were opposed, as many teachers were, to getting the schools open too quickly because of the -- I guess the health threat to the teachers. A lot of teachers were just concerned of catching COVID from the students.
[19:20:02]
But, let me just ask you, if you had to do it all over again, would you have done it the exact same way? Were there some lessons learned?
WEINGARTEN: Now. Of course there were lessons learned. But let me just say, you're raising one interview I did with the "Guardian" where they asked the question, should the Trump administration be helping us with safety guidelines. So the Trump administration didn't help us with any safety guidelines. At the very same time that that was going on, the Cuomo administration was helping with safety guidelines and we actually reopened all the New York schools.
What we were asking for, and you're not wrong. There were a lot of teachers who were fearful. And, remember, 245,000 kids were orphaned at the time. 1.1 million deaths for COVID. So there were a lot of teachers who were concerned at the time. And what we were saying, and we got a lot of political heat from some of our own members because we were saying, let's open schools. But let's make sure we had the mitigating conditions, the layered mitigation, that they were doing in Europe. And what the Trump administration was saying is, no, just open schools.
ACOSTA: All right. Well, Randi, our time is short because we have some developments that are breaking in this hour. But we want to get you back on to talk about this further because, as you know, there's just a lot of controversy around it.
WEINGARTEN: Sure.
ACOSTA: And the way you were treated up there on Capitol Hill the other day was just appalling when Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene came after you. But we're out of time. I want to bring you back. We can talk about that a different time.
But, Randi Weingarten, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it. WEINGARTEN: Thanks, Jim.
ACOSTA: Yes. Good to talk to you.
WEINGARTEN: Thank you.
ACOSTA: One of the biggest nights here in the nation's capital is tonight. The White House Correspondents' Dinner. President Biden, Roy Wood, Jr. will host the dinner. One of the special guests there tonight, we want to bring her on now live, is the daughter of Alexey Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who remains in a Russian prison, Dasha Navalnaya. She joins me now.
Dasha, thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate it. You look terrific. You look like you're going to have a great time tonight at the dinner.
DASHA NAVALNAYA, DAUGHTER OF ALEXEY NAVALNY: Of course. Thank you for having me.
ACOSTA: Yes. What is the latest that you have heard about how your father is doing? How is he doing?
NAVALNAYA: Thank you so much for having me. It's a big delay on the screen that I'm seeing. The sound is very distracting so I apologize. However, my -- you know, the situation with my dad is incredibly difficult. He is doing as well as he can do in a Russian prison which doesn't have the best conditions. His prison facility guards are taking away his food. His health is deteriorating and we are doing everything we can to get him the attention that he needs and being at an event like this, and representing my father in the movement, is what's most important right now.
ACOSTA: And why is it important for you to be there at the White House Correspondents' Dinner? As you know, later on tonight, President Biden is expected to address this situation facing Evan Gershkovich, who is the reporter for the "Wall Street Journal" who is being detained, the U.S. says, wrongfully there in Russia. I guess this does not come as a surprise to you that it has happened to Evan Gershkovich.
NAVALNAYA: Of course it doesn't come as a surprise. I'm very sorry for his family and that, you know, he can't come home to his kids and he's stuck in a Russian prison.
It's incredibly important for me to be here because America as a country represents freedom of speech, freedom of political expression. And this is what my dad and the Anti-Corruption Foundation are fighting for. We want freedom of election. We want freedom to all political prisoners, especially Alexey Navalny, my dad, and we want freedom to political prisoners like foreign journalists.
ACOSTA: Well, Dasha Navalnaya, I hope you have a good time tonight despite everything that you and your family have been through. We wish the best for you and your father and everybody else in your family. Any last message you want to offer? NAVALNAYA: I want to tell everyone who is watching that, you know,
continue supporting us. And thank you so much for supporting us. And CNN, I really appreciate you doing everything that you guys do. We will be here. We're fighting and continue the fight with us. Thank you.
ACOSTA: All right, Dasha. And thanks for fighting through all that noise there at the Correspondents' Dinner. I know how loud that can be. But I hope you have a good evening tonight. Thank you for very much for joining us. We really appreciate it.
And you can learn more about Alexey Navalny, his political rise, attempted assassination, and search to uncover the truth.
[19:25:01]
The Academy Award-winning documentary "Navalny" is airing right now on HBO Max which is owned by CNN's parent company. Please check that out. It's critical viewing.
Not all Republican members of Congress were on board with Speaker Kevin McCarthy's debt ceiling plan. Among them, Congressman Tim Burchett. He joins us live in just a few moments.
Stay with us. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Right now the community of Palm Beach Gardens is cleaning up after the possible touchdown of this tornado. Look at this. A massive funnel cloud barreling toward the town. We're also getting video in from the damage on the ground. You can see cars overturned. Look at this mess here. My goodness. Scattered about a parking lot along with debris. One witness told CNN that he hid in his bathroom and felt the entire building shake for about 30 seconds.
We're going to stay on top of that. Any new video comes in, we'll get that to you just as soon as we can.
[19:30:02]
In the meantime, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy won something of a victory on the debt ceiling battle this past week squeaking out a victory with 217 House Republicans, but the process is nowhere near finished at this point.
The bill as it now exists, will surely go down to defeat in the Senate and the US will stay closer to the edge of default, a default that might not only disrupt Social Security and Medicare benefits, but also could spur a global economic recession or worse.
And joining us now to talk about this, one of just four Republicans who voted against Speaker McCarthy's bill, Tennessee congressman -- Republican Congressman Tim Burchett.
Welcome, Congressman. Great to see you. Thanks so much for being with us.
You tweeted that you needed to see meaningful debt reduction. I mean, a lot of people want that, but let me ask you this, do you doubt that there would be serious economic consequences if the US crashes through the debt ceiling?
REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): Well, Jim, I think if we just went back to 2019 levels, we would actually have a surplus now of spending, because our revenues have increased that much since then. I think if we would just put everybody together and start talking instead of just fighting.
You know, I voted against going through the debt ceiling under Trump, and you know, I thought it would be disingenuous if I continued on this stage. You know, the Republican plan, it made some cuts, but it is Washington economics or accounting. It just cut the rate of growth, it still had a 1.5 trillion additional dollars every year and in 10 years, we would be at $17 trillion additional debt, and that would be -- our total debt would be around $47 trillion.
And of course, the sacred cow is always the Pentagon, where under their last accounting or audit, I guess you'd call it, there's over a billion dollars unaccounted for.
You know, we can't afford to keep saving this much money. We're not saving anything and not --
ACOSTA: Well, let me ask -- but why not try to get those cuts through the budget process instead of using the debt ceiling for leverage?
BURCHETT: Well, it's been used in the past. In 2011, then Vice President Biden was given the task under President Obama to do -- to negotiate that, and so it's not unheard of.
Now, everybody is acting like it's never done, but it is being done, and at some point, we never -- it never happens under the budget process and it never will, and this is just a way that the masses of, I guess the unclean masses of congressmen that don't sit at that table have that opportunity to do that.
ACOSTA: But during that time, as you know, the US suffered its first ever credit downgrade, markets were rattled, you know, so it sounds like you're willing to put the country through that sort of thing all over again.
BURCHETT: I'm willing to take that risk, because the debt is going to cripple us. You know, in the last two years, if you made $100,000.00 two years ago, it's now worth $85,000.00. We're obviously not doing something right, and this incredible debt that we're incurring and inflation, just look at it in the pumps, it's hitting working people very hard. Maybe it isn't so much in the beltway, but it sure as heck is here in East Tennessee, and I just don't think we can continue down there.
I used to say, we're charging our grandkids; man, it's our great grandchildren that will never be able to pay this debt back. It's just nonsensical, the methods that we are using and the accounting we're using and it kind of reminds me of some guys I used to serve in the legislature way back in Tennessee, and Tennessee is a balanced budget state, we have an A rating.
You know, there is zero debt, no income tax, but you know, they just tried to kick the can down and get through the next election. And that's exactly what this debt ceiling is.
And you know, and honestly, you and I understand that and accounting people understand it, the people in the banking world and the money changers in the world, they understand it, but the average citizen just says, hey, why do you keep spending money you don't have? That's where I'm at.
ACOSTA: Sure. Well, let me ask you on another topic. We had another horrific mass shooting down in Texas, as you know, five people killed after they asked their neighbor to quit shooting guns in his front yard.
Let's listen to something that you said after the mass shooting in Nashville, and we'll talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BURCHETT: We've got evil in this country and everybody needs to tone down their rhetoric a little bit because all that does is gin it up in both sides, and then they point the finger and nothing happens -- nothing.
If you think Washington is going to fix this problem, you're wrong. They're not going to fix this problem. They are the problem.
REPORTER: It doesn't concern that other countries don't have this level of gun violence?
BURCHETT: Other countries don't have our freedom either. You know, the United States of America, my father fought for this country, my mama flew an airplane. My mama lost her brother fighting the Nazis, dad fought the Japanese.
We've got incredible freedom in this country, and when people abuse that freedom, that's what happens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:35:00]
ACOSTA: Congressman, getting back to when you were saying that Washington is not going to fix this, a lot of people listen at home to that and I mean, you like to speak, you know plain English to folks.
A lot of people listen to what you just said and said, wait a minute it is your job to fix this and it is unacceptable to have mass shooting after mass shooting after mass shooting. Why not fix this? Get together, get together with the Democrats and get it done.
BURCHETT: This happens a lot, Jim. It was cut off a little bit.
I was probably speaking more from a Christian perspective. I also went on said, we need real revival in this country. I feel like we've turned from the Lord and I know that maybe makes people's heads spin off sometimes when they hear somebody like me may say that.
But it's just --
ACOSTA: Well, there is Christianity in other countries and they don't have mass shootings.
BURCHETT: Well, they don't have our freedom either. They don't have a Second Amendment that -- and also -- you know, what happens is you'll take away the --
ACOSTA: But what about that point that you should be the ones to fix it? To say, well, we're not going to fix anything here in Washington. That's your job.
BURCHETT: Okay. She broke over 20 laws. What law are you going to do? You know, now you have people that can print guns, you know, Timothy McVeigh 150 pounds of fertilizer and diesel fuel. He killed over a hundred people, a bunch of innocent folks. We've got evil in this world, we've got to address it.
We know we had a bill last year, Marsha Blackburn had it in the Senate, and we had it over in the House that would have put guards in our schools and it was blocked.
The president said, I want the guns. We're not going to do this. And we weren't even allowed a hearing on it in the state -- in the House of Representatives, in the People's House.
Now why wouldn't you want to put more people secure and you know, you enjoy that at CNN. You enjoy the fact that you can't walk into the headquarters of CNN, there's an armed guard out front.
ACOSTA: Sure.
BURCHETT: And I just don't see that --
ACOSTA: But you can put an armed guard at the house.
BURCHETT: That's the --
ACOSTA: I don't want to get into a back and forth you, sir. But you couldn't put an armed guard at the house last night in Texas where the guy, because he didn't want to stop shooting his guns, went over an executed half the people in the house, executed five people including an eight-year-old child. There is no armed guard there.
BURCHETT: Jim, I don't know the situation there, but tell me how you get the guns back? How do you get them out?
There are so many guns out there. I just think that we've got a mental health issue in this country, we ought to address that as well. And you know, these red flag laws, some say they work, some say they don't. I'd like to see some real numbers on that.
We had a -- remember we had an assault weapons ban in this country and the Justice Department came back and said it's not reducing mass shootings at all, and so they did away with it. So I don't know what the answer is going to be with that.
ACOSTA: Well, there were some studies that said that it did reduce -- there were some studies that said it did reduce mass shootings. But, Congressman, I'm short on time, let's have you back sometime and let's talk about this.
We always appreciate your time and talking to you.
BURCHETT: I would love to, Jim.
ACOSTA: Thanks so much. Congressman Tim Burchett. Thanks so much.
BURCHETT: And I'm sorry, I'm not in Washington tonight. I'm sorry I am not in Washington tonight for that delicious chicken dinner.
ACOSTA: Maybe next time. All right, thank you, sir. We'll see you.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:42:11]
ACOSTA: China flew a sophisticated and powerful combat drone all the way around Taiwan for the first time in a highly provocative move. This, as China is accusing the US of being a "destroyer of peace and stability" in this hotly contested region.
CNN's Will Ripley reports from Taipei.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): One of the largest drones in the Chinese military on a menacing mission encircling Taiwan.
The combat drone flew around the entire island Friday, a highly provocative flight path publicized for the first time by the island's Defense Ministry, a brazen act.
On the same day, a USP-8 surveillance aircraft transited the Taiwan Strait. China scrambled fighter jets calling the flight provocative.
The drone flight also came as former national security adviser, John Bolton was in Taipei, voicing support for Taiwan independence.
We don't know if the drone flight is connected. Beijing is keeping quiet.
Chinese state media identifies the drone as TB-001, nicknamed the "Twin-Tailed Scorpion," capable of high altitude long range missions, traveling up to 6,000 kilometers more than 3,700 miles. That's like flying from London to New York.
DAVID HAMBLING, MILITARY TECHNOLOGY WRITER: The big advantage is that they've got a very long endurance, they can stay in the air for thirty-five, forty hours, or even more.
RIPLEY (voice over): Military experts tell CNN the drone can carry a large weapons payload. Its primary purpose, persistent surveillance, but experts say this drones mission was no secret.
HAMBLING: It is simply done for demonstration purposes to try and give the impression that Taiwan is surrounded.
RIPLEY (voice over): China may have an edge in the air, but Taiwan is unveiling its own combat and surveillance drones. CNN was given rare access last month to a Taiwanese weapons developer, including five models revealed to the public for the first time. Drone defense a top priority for Taiwan's military.
Last year, a series of unidentified civilian drones from China hovered over sensitive military sites.
RIPLEY (on camera): What did you think when you saw the video of the drones flying over?
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)
RIPLEY (voice over): "Our soldiers shut down a drone over that island," a neighbor tells me.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry tells CNN they won't be intimidated, insisting they are ready to respond to any air threat from China at any time.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: and some new photos from inside the White House to show you coming up from the momentous day when US troops took down Osama bin Laden. What we're learning from these new pictures, that's next here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:48:15]
ACOSTA: We are getting a glimpse into an extraordinary moment in US history, May 1, 2011, the day Osama bin Laden was killed.
Newly released photos offer a window into the planning and tension inside the Obama White House. The photos were obtained by "The Washington Post" via a Freedom of Information Act request and here is CNN's Brian Todd with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A never before seen image depicting the intensity and drama during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Then President Obama and Vice President Biden in the White House Situation Room, tension visible on their faces, pressing Defense Secretary Bob Gates, one of several newly published pictures from inside the White House on that momentous day, May 1, 2011.
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: They all knew, look, if this thing goes wrong, al-Qaeda fights back. Special operations people that are captured or killed. Bin Laden isn't there. The Pakistani military gets involved -- a lot of things that could go wrong.
TODD (voice over): These pictures just obtained by "The Washington Post" from the Obama Presidential Library from a Freedom of Information Act request.
Previously, this was the image the public knew best from that day. Obama along with Biden, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other top aides watching the bin Laden raid in real time, Clinton's hand over her mouth.
CNN national security analyst, Peter Bergen believes this was around the time the Navy SEALs' helicopter clipped a wall and was damaged in a hard landing.
Bergen interviewed President Obama and all the key players in the room for the CNN documentary: "We Got Him."
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's here where we observed for example, that one of the helicopters got damaged in the landing.
BERGEN: And what were you thinking?
OBAMA: I was thinking that this is not an ideal start.
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER US SECRETARY OF STATE: And that your heart was in your throat the whole time we were in there. I've never spent any more stressful 30-plus minutes in my life.
[19:50:06]
TODD (voice over): The newly released pictures show Obama watching intently, asking questions. When word came that the raid was successful, Obama is photographed shaking hands with Gates.
Other photos depict the President making calls to give the news to former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and calls to other world leaders.
Other images show the President and his team working on the speech he would give to the nation late that night as they could hear a crowd gathering outside the White House. In one of the newly released photos, Biden and then Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen show White House photographer, Pete Souza, the rosary beads they'd had wrapped around their fingers during the bin Laden raid.
TODD (on camera): What sense do they give you of just the relief afterwards?
BERGEN: I'll tell you what a lot of people said. They said that they only really realized what a big deal this was when they left the White House. Suddenly, they hear these cheers and that's when people said, you know, some people said, I started crying.
(CROWD chanting "USA.")
TODD (on camera): On those phone calls that President Obama made to tell other world leaders about the bin Laden raid, according to Obama's memoir, when he told them Pakistani President, Asif Ali Zardari about it, Zardari's reply was: "Whatever the fallout, it is good news." That, despite the public backlash from the Pakistani government at the time, expressing serious displeasure with the raid.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: All right, here is a live look right now at the red carpet at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, which will start in less than 10 minutes. It looks like these are the last arriving guests there.
And just moments ago, my colleagues, Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow were there. We're going to have a preview of one of the biggest nights here in the nation's capital in just a few moments.
Stay with us, you're live here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: It's a big night in Washington, DC. The White House Correspondents' Dinner starts just minutes from now.
You can see right there on the red carpet a few moments ago the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and we're told by our White House unit just a few moments ago the President and First Lady met privately with Brittney Griner.
[19:55:10]
So a lot happening over the Washington here in the nation's capital.
Earlier this evening, I spoke with this year's host, Roy Wood, Jr. and I asked him to give us a taste of what to expect and it was priceless as you might expect.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROY WOOD, JR., COMEDIAN AND WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS' DINNER HOST: Jim, there is just so much chaos in the world right now, I don't even know what I'm going to do yet.
Look, this is -- these are all the cards, these are all of the bits and I don't know which ones are going to get done.
Trevor Noah was cutting jokes last year while Biden was on stage. So you can have in your head what you think you're going to do.
We don't know. Five more people might get fired before I even go in there tonight, Jim. It is crazy.
People are losing jobs left and right for doing nothing more than just telling lies on television. If you can't tell a lie on TV, where else can you tell a lie?
ACOSTA: Well, that is a problem at one particular channel, but let me ask you, Roy, you know, host of the White House Correspondents' Dinner are not known for pulling -- they are not known for pulling their punches with the politicians. Who are you going to be having some fun with tonight?
WOOD: We've got to go with everybody. I don't want to come in here and make this some situation where you're throwing jokes only on one side of the room. You know, Biden and them have some scandals that I think it's fair to speak on. I think it's fair to speak on what's going on with the President and whichever scandal you want to pull up about Trump if we are really being real about it.
Also, when a governor goes to war against a mouse in Florida, it has to be spoken about. I'm sorry. You don't cross Mickey.
ACOSTA: And how did you prepare for tonight, Roy? I mean, you know, I know you're a pro at this. This is what you do.
Any special preparations, we should know about? Any special exercises, maybe?
WOOD: Nothing -- nothing really out of the ordinary. I mean, it's jokes. So you run them in a comedy club, but then there's also certain parts of the material that you know is just for the people in the room. It is elected officials, it is members of the media. So you want to make sure that you're doing something that speaks to their craft and what they do.
But at the end of the day, this is a performance like every other performance I've done for the last 25 years in my career. So you approach it by getting on stage and whatever they don't laugh that, don't say that again and if that doesn't work in here, it was funny, you all just don't have no sense of humor or you're all drunk.
ACOSTA: Well, that is the problem in Washington, you just -- it might be one or the other or both.
But let me -- you know, Roy, as you know, there are times when the comedians do very well out there. There are times when it doesn't work out so well. I mean, that's pressure.
WOOD: Yes, it's definitely pressure, but it is also a privilege. You know, it's an opportunity to get on stage and I only crack a joke or two, but I get an opportunity to spit whatever I want back at elected officials and try to hold them accountable a little bit, I don't think that there's some magic joke tonight that is going to fix all of the policies that are jacked up in Washington.
But if you can at least say it, then at least the people that are suffering in those situations can feel like somebody's got their back.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. You're doing a public service. There's no question about it, Roy.
And just know that I will be ducking under the table if you look at my direction, so that -- but thank you very much for being with us, Roy. Great talking to you.
Good luck tonight.
WOOD: No, you're good. You're good. If there is anything to talk about at CNN, it is not you.
ACOSTA: That's a good point. Let's not go down that road right now, if you don't mind. But anyway, we don't want to give any spoilers, Roy. We'll let you do that later tonight, Roy.
Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Good talking to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And yes, my thanks to Roy Wood, Jr. there for taking it easy on me there at the end. He had an opportunity to go much harder, but he didn't.
CNN's special coverage of the White House Correspondents' Dinner starts in just a minute, so stay tuned for that.
But before we go, an update on some of our top stories: A manhunt we should know that this hour is still underway for this man. Police say he carried out a mass shooting in Texas after a family asked him to stop firing a rifle in his front yard.
Police say the suspect then went inside and shot and killed five people from that neighboring home including an eight-year-old child.
The FBI is now assisting in the search and they say this is critically important for people in that area, that that suspect is considered armed and dangerous. You see a photo of him right there. Be very careful if you happen to see this man out in that part of Texas.
In the meantime, First Republic is still an independent bank at this hour, but discussions are underway that could see it purchased by another lender. Its share price has plunged 97 percent since March first, and fell to $3.00 just yesterday.
Bloomberg and "The Wall Street Journal" say JPMorgan Chase and PNC Financial are in the process of submitting bids to buy First Republic.
That's the news.
Reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Thank you very much for joining me this evening. I'll see you again tomorrow night starting at five o'clock Eastern.
In the meantime, President Biden and host, Roy Wood Jr. headline the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
There's my colleague, Wolf Blitzer, my other colleague, Laura Coates. They're going to be there tonight.
Stay tuned. It's all live coming up next here on CNN.
Have a good night.
[20:00:32]
