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Border Cities Report Fewer Migrants Than Expected; NC Governor Roy Cooper Vetoes 12-Week Abortion Ban; More Explosions Reported In Russian-Occupied City Of Luhansk; Zelenskyy In Rome For Meeting With Pope And Italian PM; Trump And DeSantis Collide In Iowa As Election Battle Looms; Biden Delivers Howard University Commencement Speech. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired May 13, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:52]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, thanks so much for joining me. I'm Alex Marquardt in today for Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin at the U.S. southern border where officials say they are seeing fewer migrants crossing than expected despite the end of Title 42. Authorities say that the long lines of people who once-waited to enter the U.S. have dissipated at many border crossings. Many had expected a surge after the COVID-era policy, Title 42 expired at midnight on Thursday.

In its place, the Biden administration has reenacted tougher border policies which require longer processing times and impose severe consequences for those who cross illegally. The White House has sent thousands of asylum officers, Secret Service agents and even U.S. troops to reinforce screening efforts and to mitigate the already challenging humanitarian crisis. CNN's Polo Sandoval is in El Paso, Texas. Polo, you're on the ground. What are you seeing?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alex, well, it certainly has been less chaotic the last 48 hours since the lifting of Title 42. That being said, there is an expectation among Customs and Border Protection that this break could perhaps be short-term. That's according to reporting from our colleague Priscilla Alvarez. It says that when you look at a recently filed court filing, there's a Senior CBP official that projects that in the coming days or weeks perhaps, we could see a number of average encounters go from about 9000, which is what we're currently seeing, to as many as 14,000.

That would certainly be a noticeable increase. But nonetheless, just to be clear, it is not what we're seeing at this particular points. What we are seeing, though, is an opportunity for DHS officials to basically play catch up here, to process the close to 23,000 people that are still in CBP custody. These are people that still have to have their credible fear hearing. And that's why those are continuing throughout the weekend to make room for any potential increase that we might see of some of the people on the Mexican side. Here, though, at the border, you see the border wall behind me. Again,

things are very quiet right now. So I think what we're going to see is some of the focus shift to some American cities like Denver, Chicago, Washington, D.C. where you at, and certainly New York City, where I've been covering this for the last year, where many of the people that cross here don't stay here. They get on planes, they get on buses, and they make their way to American cities. So there's certainly concern among elected officials in Washington, D.C. about what these people will be able to do to potentially step out of the shadow, secure work authorization, if that's even possible, amid the backlogs and the bureaucracies.

So really, that's sort of the state of play right now in terms of what we're seeing post Title 42, Alex.

MARQUARDT: All right, Polo Sandoval in El Paso, Texas, thank you so much for that report.

Now, some of these migrants have waited for months for a chance to enter the United States. CNN's Gustavo Valdes is on the Mexican side of the border. Gustavo, what are migrants there telling you?

GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We heard a lot of things on the days prior to the end of Title 42, but one thing we did not expect was this, an empty border. This is Gate 42 between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas. This is the place from which many migrants crossed into the U.S. They were lined up, up until Thursday when Title 42 ended, and we saw hundreds of them just waiting to be processed by the Border Patrol.

But Friday morning and all day, we saw the last group of migrants being taken into custody. A few other migrants were rushing in, trying to talk to the National Guardsmen, the state troopers and immigration agents who were in this place to see if they would let them cross through this fencing. But they were not successful. And as you can see now, there is nobody risking to get into the United States.

What we heard from the migrants yesterday in particular, was that they did try to be here before the end of Title 42, knowing that the new policies could result on a faster deportation with severe consequences. So perhaps the message is getting through to the migrants who are thinking about going into the United States and just enforcing existing laws is working.

[11:05:04]

However, we know that there are still hundreds of migrants coming north. We have reporters in Central America who are following more migrants coming up. The Mexican government still estimates that there are thousands of migrants in this country trying for the opportunity -- waiting for the opportunity to get into the United States.

The question now is, are they going to continue coming to places like this to turn themselves into the Border Patrol or are they going to risk going through places more remote and avoid detention? Gustavo Valdes, CNN Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Gustavo for that report. Meanwhile, back here

in Washington, the Biden administration is defending its response to the situation at the border. CNN's Arlette Saenz is at the White House. Arlette, what are officials there at the White House saying?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alex, the White House has pushed back on some of those political criticisms as well as some legal challenges that they've been facing since the ending of Title 42.

The administration top officials have said that yes, this is going to be a challenging situation, but they believe that the planning that they've put in place for a month, including surging resources down to the border, that that will help alleviate some of the issues surrounding the lifting of Title 42.

But the criticism has really come from both ends of the political spectrum. Even within the President's own Democratic Party. There are some who believe that the administration is insufficiently prepared for the ending of Title 42, while others are frustrated, saying that some of the policies are a bit too harsh.

And then from Republican, they have really been trying to seize on this moment. It's pointing out a political vulnerability for the President. One congressman, Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas, compared this situation to the chaotic situation that played out during the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The White House very forcefully pushed back on that idea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESMAN: I think it's just incorrigible to compare what we're trying to do with safe and effective pathways coming in through the border to what happened with Afghanistan. It is not at all the same situation. And the footage that you just showed demonstrates that it's not chaos down there at the border, you saw it right now. We're doing everything we can to strike a right balance here between providing legal pathways into the country but enforcement of our border laws.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, the White House is also grappling with several legal challenges in the wake of the lifting of Title 42. One of those is down in the state of Florida, where a federal judge temporarily blocked a plan for the release of migrants from CBP custody without court dates.

That is a tool that has been used in the past to try to alleviate crowding concerns in some of these facilities. That program is now -- or that plan, I should say, is now on hold for 14 days. But the Biden administration has requested a stay in that matter, so we will see how that winds its way through the courts.

There is another lawsuit that was filed by ACLU which really challenges the asylum rule that would prevent migrants who are traveling through other countries from seeking asylum him in the United States. That is also a matter that has to make its way through the courts.

Now, the White House has specifically responded to that ruling from the federal judge down in Florida, saying that Republican officials are trying to sabotage the administration's efforts to deal with Title 42. But it's certainly a very challenging few weeks ahead for this administration as they are trying to get a handle of this situation.

MARQUARDT: All right, Arlette Saenz at the White House, thank you very much.

Now for more on this, I want to bring in Juan Jose Gomez Camacho. He is the former ambassador of Mexico to Canada among other places and is currently a professor at Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Ambassador, thank you so much for joining us today. I first want to ask you with this expiration of Title 42 at midnight on Thursday, what have been your biggest concerns?

JUAN JOSE GOMEZ-CAMACHO, FORMER AMB. OF MEXICO TO CANADA: Alex, good to see you and thank you for inviting me. Listen, I would say three things. Number one is precisely what your colleagues have been explaining, which is there is lot of human suffering. There are people that rightly or wrongly are aspiring to come to the U.S. and certainly they are facing enormous challenges periods. And I should add that this is before Title 42, during Title 42 and after Title 42, this is a much more complex phenomenon. So that would be obviously my first concern.

The second concern is this perception being created on there, that the U.S.-Mexico border is a chaos, is faltering, is in danger, that comes to sort of political debate slogan of secure the border as if there is a massive threat to the U.S. coming from the south. And that's a huge mistake, first, because it's not true.

[11:10:10]

The border there is incredibly complex border, more than functional. It has 1.5 million border crossings a day, Alex, both ways. Americans crossing to Mexico. Mexicans crossing to the U.S. absolutely legally. So it's a very important boarder.

MARQUARDT: Right.

GOMEZ-CAMACHO: So one thing is that is common. The other is, that is dangerous. And third concern is Mexico itself. Mexico is facing the same challenges that you are facing here in the U.S. Your audience knows or should know that the thousands of migrants or people that are trying to get into the U.S. or actually managing to get to the U.S. border side is just a fraction of the tens of thousands of people entering Mexico and crossing Mexico. And that is also putting enormous challenges for the Mexican institutions, for the Mexican government, and it's also making it extremely politically.

MARQUARDT: So what do you think that Mexico could be doing in order to stem that tide of those thousands of people, you say, who are traveling up through Mexico to try to get into the United States?

GOMEZ-CAMACHO: Unfortunately, the solution is not only in Mexico. Mexico, I think, is doing whatever it can with its resources managing hundreds of thousands of migrants. The solution, as I think Mexico has always said and Secretary Mayorkas has been saying, quite rightly so, is a structural reform in the U.S. The U.S. needs to reform its immigration laws. Its immigration institutions has to improve its capacity to decide or to accept asylum seekers or not to have legal pathways for people that can come or want to come to work. Because we need to remember that the U.S. is an enormous need of migrant workers or labor to fill thousands of posts here.

But while the U.S. does not do that, for Mexico just to impossible to solve it, so we are helping. I think Mexico is helping as much as it can. I think President Lopez Obrador is helping the U.S. as much as can to enormous political, let's say, challenges faced in Mexico by him. This is very complex. The U.S. needs to put, to act together, particularly legislatively speaking.

MARQUARDT: And on the U.S. side of things, you know, when you speak with these migrants, many will say that they are, you know, hearing all kinds of things on social media, on WhatsApp, on Facebook. They're being promised by coyotes and smugglers that they can still get into the United States. Do you believe that the U.S. is failing to get out the message to these migrants about new U.S. policies?

GOMEZ-CAMACHO: Listen, I think the U.S. is doing the best it can to send this message. Mexico is doing the same. But when you are facing human need, human aspirations, fear, in many cases, it's very difficult to listen. And then you have to compete, if you like. These messages have to compete with lots of unscrupulous people that are out there, smuggling people, criminals that are lying to them and manipulating them. So it's very easy to manipulate fear, it's very easy to manipulate people when they have this enormous, enormous needs. So I think that what is needed, this will not be corrected, Alex, unfortunately, just by messaging.

This will only happen, this will be fixed when it is actually fixed in the system itself. When both the U.S. of course Mexico has to improve, no doubt can put together rules, institutions capacity to really channel people properly. What is very real is that and this is global, it's not only the U.S.-Mexico border, people are moving for different reasons, legitimately or credibly or not that's another story. But they are moving.

And let me just add something that many people don't know. Mexico is the largest corridor of migrants in the world. Hundreds of thousands of people, is very difficult just to stop by messaging. Something much more structural is needed you.

MARQUARDT: Ambassador, we have to leave it there. Thank you so much for your time and your thoughts today. Ambassador Juan Jose Gomez- Camacho, appreciate it.

GOMEZ-CAMACHO: Good to see you, Alex. Thank you very much.

[11:15:00]

MADDOW: Happening now, protests in North Carolina are underway to oppose recently passed legislation that bans most abortion after 12 weeks. The Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, just vetoed Senate Bill 20. But the Republican supermajority in the legislature is now poised to override the Governor's veto. Let's get straight to CNN's Isabel Rosales, who's been following this story for us. Isabel, what more are you learning?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Alex. Democratic Governor Roy Cooper has been for the past week, touring the state, building support for this veto. He is a strong abortion rights supporter. He has called the bill a, "disaster." And as of a few moments ago, as you mentioned there, surrounded at a veto rally by doctors, by abortion rights supporters. He stamped onto the bill a veto, officially vetoing that bill.

Now, under the current state law, abortion is legal there in North Carolina up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. But if Senate Bill 20 survives, and it can, because the General Assembly can vote to override the Governor's veto. Well, it will ban abortions, nearly all abortions, after 12 weeks, by placing a series of duties on doctors, abortion clinics, and women seeking the procedure.

So take a close look right here where we break down what this bill would do. It would ban doctors from, again, performing surgical abortions after 12 twelve weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions. It would require in-person examinations by doctors for medical abortions. It will prohibit people within North Carolina from mailing drugs to pregnant women. And it will mandate doctors to confirm a probable gestational age, making sure that the fetus is no more than ten weeks before signing off on a medical abortion.

Here's what else the Governor had to say about the veto and the bill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. ROY COOPER, (D) CAROLINA: Therefore, I veto this bill.

(CHEERING & APPLAUSE)

COOPER: That part is signed. The second thing I need to do is give it the veto stamp. You ready?

CROWD: Veto, veto, veto.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And that is the moment he, the Governor Roy Cooper officially vetoed Senate Bill 20.

Now, there's some politics at play here, certainly because the GOP has a slim supermajority in both chambers. Haven't recently gained a veto proof majority in both of the chambers, with a Democrat actually switching parties. But the governor here holding out hope that one of the Republican lawmakers will not vote to override his veto. Alex. MARQUARDT: All right, Isabel Rosales, thank you so much for breaking that down for us, appreciate it.

Now at this hour in Italy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet with the pope, Pope Francis. This face-to-face meeting coming after another explosion hit the Russian occupied city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine this morning.

And later, Trump and DeSantis face off today in Iowa. We'll take you there live. Stay with us.

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[11:22:34]

MARQUARDT: And now to Russia's war on Ukraine. This morning, more explosions hit the suburbs of the Russian occupied city of Luhansk, there in eastern Ukraine. Now, this comes one day after the city was struck by two missiles. Video shows a building reduced to rubble. Russian officials said that six children were injured in Friday's bombings. CNN Sam Kiley is in Southeast Ukraine.

Sam, this comes after CNN actually broke the story that the U.K. is now giving Ukraine long range cruise missiles called Storm Shadows. What more do we know about these blasts in Luhansk?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's very premature, Alex. Not whatever the Russians may wish to sail their proxies in the east of the country in occupied territory about whether or not these were Storm Shadow missiles. The Ukrainians have cruise missiles of their own, their own homemade ones, or home produced.

They've also got longer range missiles, all capable of hitting Luhansk. As they have in the past. It's not often that that city gets hit, but it does get hit. It has been hit in the past, and we've seen longer range attacks deep inside Crimea in particular, where airfields and other locations have been attacked there, in particular even shipping.

So the Ukrainians have the capability. I think more broadly, this will start to be considered part of the shaping operations ahead of a much- vaunted summer offensive. But the other day, as you recall, Alex, President Zelenskyy said that the conditions weren't quite right yet for the Ukrainians to launch their summer offensive.

And they're very keen to keep their enemy guessing and indeed perhaps even their allies about where and when that offensive will be launched. But clearly with the addition of Storm Shadow to their armory, they are getting more and more of the longer range, more strategic weaponry that they say they've been needing for some time.

And just in the last 24 hours, they've got nearly 3 billion euro more of German funding, in particular in the form of antiaircraft tanks and other equipment that will help them secure their skies and significant additional supplies of ammunition. All of which really being a significant boost to the morale, I think, of the Ukrainians ahead of this planned summer offensive. Alex.

MARQUARDT: Yes, it certainly will be. Sam Kiley there in southeastern Ukraine, appreciate that report.

Now, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Rome right now working to strengthen his ties with Italy as well as the Vatican. And for the first time since Russia's invasion of the country, he's meeting with the pope. Zelenskyy confirming his meeting with Pope Francis in a tweet, calling it an important visit for approaching victory in Ukraine.

[11:25:17]

CNN Vatican Correspondent Delia Gallagher has the details from Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAL CORRESPONDENT: Pope Francis is meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is important because since the beginning of the war, Francis has tried to position himself as a mediator for peace. Just two weeks ago, returning from Hungary, the Pope said that the Vatican has a peace process underway. He didn't give any further details on that, and authorities in Kyiv and Moscow immediately said they were not aware of this plan.

But the Vatican has insisted that they are, and so presumably that has been one of the focal points between the Pope and President Zelenskyy. The problem, of course, with the Vatican peace plan is that while the Pope and President Zelenskyy have a relatively good relationship, this is the first time they're meeting face to face since the beginning of the war. But they have had several phone conversations since the beginning of the war. The same cannot be said for Francis' relationship with Vladimir Putin. He has not had any direct contact with the Russian President since the beginning of the war.

So Francis has tried via the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kiril, who is a strong supporter of President Putin and the war. But that dialogue as well has stalled, although there was some sign of hope earlier in May when Patriarch Kiril sent the equivalent of his foreign minister for the Russian Orthodox Church to the Vatican to briefly greet Pope Francis.

Nonetheless, the meeting with President Zelenskyy for Pope Francis, I think there is no expectation on the Pope's part that there will be some kind of immediate result from this meeting. However, it is a sign of the Pope's willingness to be available as a mediator and to try to offer, as it were, a safe space at the Vatican for dialogue. And certainly implicit in that is the hope that eventually, however remote it may seem at the moment, Russia will also want to join that conversation. Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Delia Gallagher for that report. Now, still ahead, a showdown in Iowa, former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis both hitting the trail to reach out to voters. They have dueling messages. We'll have how they're being received, that's coming up next.

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[11:31:43]

MARQUARDT: It is a showdown in Iowa this weekend. The two current poll leaders for the Republican presidential nomination are holding dueling events in Iowa today. In the next hour, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will be holding the first of two campaign style events that'll be Sioux Center. He has yet to officially announce his presidential run, but this latest appearance, of course, indicates that he may be getting closer to jumping into the race.

And then later today, former President Donald Trump will be holding a rally of his own in Des Moines as he continues to sharpen his attacks against DeSantis.

CNN Steve Contorno is in Iowa for us today. Steve, set the scene for what's taking place.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Alex. Governor DeSantis will speak right behind me in about an hour. And as you said, he is not a candidate for president yet. But I have to tell you, this event certainly has the look and feel of a presidential campaign. A Super PAC supporting him has lined the streets with DeSantis 2024 signs. There's a bus here where it says DeSantis for president, and they are putting this pamphlet on tables to give voters or potential caucus goers here a sense of the governor's biography, who he is, what he stands for.

Now, Trump, not to be outdone, is also campaigning in the state. He will be in Des Moines today holding one of his signature rallies. And, of course, he is coming off this town hall where he was asked a lot of questions about what a second term for him would look like.

But he also spoke about this rivalry with Governor DeSantis, and he had some advice for the Florida governor. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Seven points, nine points, I'm leading the DeSanctimonious by a lot, by 40 points or 45 points. I think he ought to just relax and take it easy and think about the future, because right now, his future is not looking so good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now, DeSantis so far has really avoided getting into these kind of tussles with Trump over these attacks. He hasn't really engaged Trump at all, but the Super PAC that is supporting his presidential effort has been doing some of the dirty work for him. They put out a statement after that town hall saying, "The CNN Town Hall was as expected over an hour of nonsense that proved Trump is stuck in the past. After 76 years, Trump still doesn't know where he stands on important conservative issues like supporting life and the Second Amendment. How does that make America great again?" Now, Alex, I don't expect Governor DeSantis to get into it with Trump here today. This is an opportunity for him to really show another side of himself. He is going to flip burgers here, talk to caucus goers and give do some of that retail politics that people say has been missing from his efforts so far, Alex.

MARQUARDT: Yeah, DeSantis has not been eager to tangle too much with Trump. Well, it's a busy weekend in Iowa. Steve Contorno, thank you very much.

Now with me now to talk more about this is Scott Jennings, a CNN Senior Political Commentator and former Special Assistant George W. Bush and Ana Navarro, a CNN Political Commentator. Thank you so much to you both for joining me today.

Scott, I want to go to you first. DeSantis has been dropping in those primary polls recently. Do you think he can continue to drag out this period before making any official announcement or does he need to hurry up and get in this race?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He needs to get in the race and from what I'm hearing out of people who are around him and want us support him, that they believe the decision is imminent. And obviously this event in Iowa today has all the look and feel of a presidential event.

[11:35:06]

And I think, I read 37 Iowa state legislators are endorsing Ron DeSantis. So obviously, he's moving towards a campaign. Note on Iowa, though, it's not usual that the winner of the Iowa caucus goes on to be the Republican nominee. So we're going to talk about Iowa today. But it's not the Iowa caucus that normally propels someone on, although it is the first step for the Republicans.

MARQUARDT: All right, Scott Jennings, Ana Navarro, stay with me. We're going to get back to this conversation, but President Joe Biden has just started delivering his commencement address at Howard University right here in Washington. Let's take a listen.

JOE BIDEN, (D) U.S. PRESIDENT: -- for everything yet to come. You are here at a new moment of hope and possibilities.

But, graduates, before we begin, as mentioned many times, tomorrow is Mother's Day. Stand for your mothers and grandmothers. Stand and thank them.

(CHEERING & APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: Where I come from, moms rule.

(CHEERING & APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: To my friend -- and he is my friend -- Congressman Jim Clyburn, the thing that I admire most about you, Jim, is your absolute integrity in everything you do -- in everything you do. This is a man of honor.

(CHEERING & APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: I attended South Carolina State University's commencement as Jim received his degree he earned 60 years ago but never got a chance to receive it in person. Jim, it's an honor to join you here today and receive an honorary degree from this great university.

And it's truly special -- special to join fellow honorees. Prime Minister Rowley of -- (laughs) -- Prime Minister -- Prime Minister, I didn't know you were so talented.

(LAUGHTER)

BIDEN: I just thought you were foreign policies -- you know, Latin American guy. I -- you know, I -- we got to talk.

(LAUGHTER)

BIDEN: All kidding aside, thank you for being a strong partner in the Caribbean and for addressing climate change and supporting democracies across the Western Hemisphere.

I'm also honored that -- there's a person here today, Dr. Tony Allen. He is President of my home state [H]BCU, Delaware State University, where I got politically started.

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: I was fortunate to have Tony as a Senate staffer for a long time. Then he got his PhD, had a distinguished career in business, and became president of an HBCU. Now Tony chairs my White House Board of Advisors on HBCUs, which is designed to support and advance HBCU excellence with a lot more money.

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: I'm also proud to say that we're the first White House to formally convene where the real power is: the Divine Nine.

(CHEERING & APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: Oh, you all -- you all think I'm kidding? Not a joke. The Divine Nine not only has a seat at the table, we definitely hear you at the table. And they're, first time ever, at the White House permanently.

So, folks, in 2023, I'm truly honored to be here at Howard. Chartered 156 years ago by an act of Congress just after Emancipation and the Civil War. Founded -- founded on a hilltop in Washington, D.C. The Mecca. The Mecca.

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: Always promoting, excellence, leadership, and truth and service. It really has. And a proving ground for future leaders of science, medicine, education, business, faith, arts, entertainment, and public service. Trailblazing intellectuals, lawyers, doctors. The first Black -- I might say -- Vice President of the United States of America.

(CHEERING & APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: You can say that again. Kamala sends her love. And she sent a clear message that today I have the privilege, as she points out, of speaking at the real H-U.

(CHEERING & APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: Now you realize that's going to cost me at home.

(LAUGHTER)

BIDEN: This -- there's enormous pride in this university founded in the verses of the Howard anthem. And I quote, "Reared against the eastern sky, proudly there on hilltop high. There she stands for truth and right, sending forth her rays of light." It matters. It matters. It matters.

We're living through one of the most consequential moments in our history with fundamental questions at stake for our nation. Who are we? What do we stand for? What do we believe? Who will we be? You're going to help answer those questions.

[11:40:12]

Let me take you back to January of 2009. I stood in Wilmington, Delaware, on the train station of Amtrak, carrying my folder waiting to be picked up by a guy named Barack Obama.

(CHEERING & APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: The first Black man elected President of the United States. I was there to join him as Vice President on the way to the historic inauguration in Washington. A moment of extraordinary hope, but also, as I stood there -- and this is the God's truth -- I couldn't help think about another day I stood there.

I wasn't much more than your age. I'd just got out of law school. I was a public -- I had gone to work for a big firm, but my state -- because when Dr. King was assassinated, parts of it were -- my city -- parts were burned to the ground. We had a very conservative governor. He stationed the National Guard on every corner with drawn bayonets for 10 months. I quit and became a public defender.

And I used to have to introduce my clients -- no, that's not so noble -- I had to interview my clients down at the Wilmington train station when they were arrested. On the east side -- that's where they'd be taken in the aftermath of the riots that burned Wilmington following his assassination.

In 2009, while waiting for Barack, I was both living history at the same time I was reliving it. A vivid demonstration: When it comes to race in America, hope doesn't travel alone. It's shadowed by fear, by violence, and by hate.

But after the election and the re-election of the first Black American President, I had hoped that the fear of violence and hate was significantly losing ground.

After being -- no longer being Vice President, I became a professor at the University of Pennsylvania for four years. But in 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, crazed neo-Nazis with angry faces came out of the fields with -- literally with torches, carrying Nazi banners from the woods and the fields chanting the same antisemitic bile heard across Europe in the '30s. Something that I never thought I would ever see in America.

Accompanied by Klansmen and white supremacists, emerging from dark rooms and remote fields and the anonymity of the Internet, confronting decent Americans of all backgrounds standing in their way, into the bright light of day. And a young woman --

MARQUARDT: All right, that is President Joe Biden speaking at Howard University, of course, one of the most famous black universities in the country. And we offer our congratulations to all of the Bison's graduating today.

Ana Navarro, I want to come back to you. Black voters were obviously key to President Biden being elected in 2020, and polls have shown that his support among young black Americans has softened. How worrying is that or should that be for the president's reelection prospects?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think the lesson is that no group will young voters, whether it's black voters, whether it's Latino voters, whether it's women voters, whether it's any voter wants to be taken granted. And you have to work on it. And you have to work on, not just a few weeks before the election.

I think the Biden can understand that, that is why he is at Howard University giving that speech today because it's basically an admission of the importance of that vote. As, you know, the speeches, the commencement speeches that a president and vice president gives are (technical difficulty) and are curated and are picked. And this is a reason for that.

MARQUARDT: And Ana, back to the Republican field and what's happening in Iowa this weekend, we heard our colleague Steve Contorno saying that DeSantis does not appear to be wanting to go after Trump this weekend, that he's avoiding these direct attacks on Trump almost certainly because he fears alienating that Trump base, that Republican base. What do you make of that strategy?

NAVARRO: DeSantis is going to have to do something. I think he hasn't come into the race before because the legislative session was going on in Florida. That legislative session ended last week, and he's still signing some of the bills that were passed. But I also think DeSantis has done himself an enormous amount of harm in this legislative session. And in the last few months in Florida. He has shown himself to be the type of person who weaponizes government, whether it's against a Drag Brunch or against Disney World, and that is costing him. Floridians don't like that.

[11:45:12]

And I think of the number that's got to be worrying DeSantis the most is the fact that his support has dropped, not just nationally, but in the State of Florida, where we see him most and where we know him best. And that is something that should be of great concern to him.

MARQUARDT: Scott, I want to get your thoughts on the flip side of that and President Trump focusing primarily on Ron DeSantis, despite the fact that there are others in the field, namely Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson. What do you make of that tactic?

JENNINGS: Well, I mean, the reality is all these other candidates are virtually nowhere. If you look at the polling, they're all in low single digits. They just don't carry the same positive name ID in the Republican Party as DeSantis. He's the only one in double digits. I think Trump thinks that he could go ahead and dispatch DeSantis now. None of these other people are ever going to be able to rise up and consolidate the anti-Trump lane of the party, or at least the people who want to do something else. Maybe they don't dislike Trump, but maybe they think we need a new nominee.

So dispatching DeSantis before he ever really gets out of the gate, which he is working very diligently on, obviously, is priority one for Trump. And there's some evidence that it's working at the moment. But I wouldn't count out DeSantis. There's a lot of runway left in the race.

MARQUARDT: A lot of runway, lots to watch in Iowa this weekend. Scott Jennings, Ana Navarro, thank you very much for your time and your thoughts.

NAVARRO: Thank you.

MARQUARDT: And coming up, big chains are closing up shop and leaving major U.S. cities. Many point to rising crime as a driving factor, but experts are saying there's more to it than that. A reality check on what's really happening. That's next.

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[11:50:56]

MARQUARDT: Nordstrom, Whole Foods, Starbucks, more chain stores are closing up shop in major cities. Walmart shuttered about 40 Stores since 2021 and will close 20 more this year. CVS has also said that in 2021 said in 2021 that it will close 900 stores over the following three years. So what's the driving factor behind this movement?

Well, it's not crime, experts say that several trends have converged to put retail at risk. CNN's Nathaniel Meyersohn is here to explain. Nathaniel, how big of a movement across the retail industry is this?

NATHANIEL MEYERSOHN, CNN CONSUMER REPORTER: Right, so these Nordstrom closing in San Francisco and these other stores closing have grabbed headlines, but it's a longer trend. You look at from 2019 to 2021, San Francisco lost 6 percent of its retail stores during that stretch. Los Angeles lost 4 percent and New York City lost 3 percent. Look at Seattle, they lost 2 percent of their retail stores during that frame. So it's not just the recent closures, but a longer trend here.

MARQUARDT: And there has been a focus, as I just mentioned, on crime pushing out retailers. But what is driving the stores out?

MEYERSOHN: So, Alex, crime is a factor, but it is not the only factor. Remote work has really hurt some of these stores in downtowns because you have fewer people heading to the offices and then shopping during the day or after work.

Online shopping in Amazon have also taken a big bite out of sales at these stores. Fewer people shopping in-person. And then these cities have some of the highest retail rents in the country. San Francisco, about double the national average.

Also higher rents in New York City, Chicago, and then, as you mentioned, CVS, not just closing in cities, but across the country, 900 stores over the next three years. These stores have really overexpanded, and now they're starting to shrink.

MARQUARDT: All right. Nathaniel Meyersohn, a fascinating trend. I appreciate that.

Now, there is good news for the actor Jamie Foxx. In a new social media post, Jamie Foxx's daughter announces that the actor has been, "out of the hospital for weeks, recuperating" his daughter, Corinne Foxx initially alerted the public on April 11, last month, that her dad was hospitalized in Atlanta after experiencing an undisclosed, "medical complication."

Now, on Wednesday, Foxx himself also shared a brief message, writing, appreciate all the love, feeling blessed. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:53:00]

MARQUARDT: LeBron James star -- LeBron James, the Lakers star, and the Lakers and the Golden State Warriors hopes of winning back-to-back NBA championships. CNN's Andy Scholes has more.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, Alex, it's just incredible what LeBron James is still able to do in his 20th season. And you have to remember this Lakers team, it started off 2 and 10. They had to win a playing tournament game to get into the playoffs. But look where they are now in the Western Conference finals. 38-year-old LeBron, still showing he can just dominate, had complete control of this game. Check him out in the third quarter blocks, Draymond Green then runs the floor and lays it in. LeBron missed just four shots, scored 30 points, nine rebounds, nine assists.

Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, meanwhile, both had miserable shooting nights. Lakers would eliminate the Warriors 122-101. They now face the Nuggets Game 1, Western Conference finals on Tuesday.

Jalen Brunson, meanwhile, was trying to do everything he could to keep the Knicks season alive. He scored 41 points in Game 6, but in the closing seconds, down by two, Brunson turns the ball over. Heat win, 96-92 to take that series. Miami is just the second eight seed ever to make it to the conference final.

All right, in hockey, the Florida Panthers are headed to the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 1996. They held off the Maple Leafs three to two in an overtime thriller. Toronto came back from a two-goal deficit to force the extra period, but the Cardiac Cats ended it with Nick Cousins scoring on a wrist shot. Panthers will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the next round with a berth in the Stanley Cup final on the line.

All right. And finally, for the first time in 572 days, Brittney Griner was back on the basketball court in game action. The Phoenix Mercury Star getting a standing ovation Friday night in her much- anticipated return to the WNBA. Griner missed the entire 2022 season after being detained in Russia on drug related charges.

Seven time All Star finished with 10 points, three rebounds in a preseason game against the LA Sparks. Here was Griner after the game about being back.

[12:00:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRITTNEY GRINER: Felt the love, you know, the ones that sit courtside that, you know, I really know real well. You know, they all came up and talked to me, and, you know, it was it was just a good moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And the Mercury will play the Sparks again next Friday for their regular season opener in Los Angeles. Alex?

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Andy Scholes. We have a quick programming note, see how streaming changed the music industry in a new episode of the CNN Original Series "The 2010s," premiering tomorrow night at 09:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.