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Boeing Starliner Spacecraft Launch Scrubbed For Technical Issues; Zelenskyy To Meet With United States Defense Secretary On Summit Sidelines; Biden Calls On Hamas To Accept Israel's Roadmap To Peace; Trump Awaits July 11 Sentencing In Historic Criminal Conviction; Multiple Water Main Breaks In Atlanta Shutter Businesses And Tourist Spots; Idaho Jury Recommends Death Penalty In Chad Daybell Murder Case; Judge Rules Duct Tape Found On Laci Peterson Can Be Retested For DNA. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired June 01, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN "Breaking News".

[13:00:32]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining me today. I'm Alisyn Camerota, in for Fredricka Whitfield.

We have breaking news out of Florida. NASA scrubbing its plan to launch Boeing Starliner spacecraft today. You're seeing the aftermath live right now on your screens. Apparently, an automatic hold was triggered by the Ground Launch Sequencer. That's the computer that launches the rocket. It stopped the countdown clock with three minutes and 50 seconds left to go.

NASA says it is not clear what caused that automatic hold. Space and defense correspondent Kristin Fisher is live at the Kennedy Space Center for us. Also, with us, we have Colonel Chris Hadfield, astronaut and retired commander of the International Space Station.

OK. So, Kristin, what's the latest? What are you learning on the ground?

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: So, right now, everybody is focused on the two astronauts onboard this spacecraft, the commander Butch Wilmore, and the pilot, Suni Williams. Right now, you've got the blue team going in, and they have got to get these astronauts off safely. And they are essentially sitting on top of a bomb, right? A fully fueled rocket, this is highly flammable. It's dangerous work. And so, right now, everybody is focused on getting these astronauts off.

It's something they trained to do. They did this dozens and dozens of times during space shuttle launches, but it's still risky. So, that's the primary focus right now.

While they focused on that, engineers are going to be reviewing what triggered this automatic hold or an automatic abort by the computer that launches this rocket? That's the big question here. Was it any of these issues that they were troubleshooting earlier that, perhaps, led to this hold? We just don't know.

What we're also trying to figure out now is, when could they try to launch again? As of now, they are going to prepare to try to launch tomorrow. That's the next backup date. A launch around noon. But it remains to be seen if they can fully recycle this rocket in time. Because once you have a rocket that is fully fueled, it can take quite a bit of time to get it all the fuel out. And then you got to get it all the way fueled back up again.

So, that takes some time. But for now, they are preparing for a launch tomorrow. Future backup dates are June 5th and 6th of next week.

I know a lot of people are going to be thinking, wow, you know, Boeing had another issue. But this may not be an issue with Boeing at all. And here is why. This is an outdated model. So, bear with me just have to give you that caveat. But this is essentially what the rocket looks like, on the launch pad, which is just about four or five miles behind me.

On top, is the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. That's what this crewed flight test is for. And this is where the two astronauts are sitting right now and where they're trying to get them out of.

This is the body of the -- this is the rocket, this whole long piece is the rocket. It's designed, built, operated by a totally different company, the United Launch Alliance. And so, the issue with the first scrub on May 6th, that was an issue with a valve on this part of the rocket, not the Boeing Starliner spacecraft.

And so, that may be the issue again, today, perhaps this -- the computer that detected this issue, might have noticed an issue on the rocket itself. But we just don't know. It's just too soon to say. It's going to take some time for these engineers to kind of go over all the data and figure out where exactly that problem was.

But Alison, just think, if you are Butch Wilmore or Suni Williams, and you get all the way down to three minutes and 50 seconds before launch. For Suni, she is been waiting, assigned to this mission for about 10 years. And you get that close, and they say, sorry, scrub. I mean, of course, first and foremost, you want to be safe, but just imagine all that adrenaline.

And for Butch, the commander, he had just delivered this incredibly rousing speech he'd said something to the effect of, let's fire this rocket. And then, the hold this automatic abort happens. So, definitely disappointing for the astronauts on board, but you know, you'd rather be safe and alive than launch too soon before you're ready.

[13:05:01]

So, we -- remains to be seen what the issue is Alisyn, and remains to be seen when they are going to try again.

CAMEROTA: Commander, what were your thoughts as you watch them get down to under four minutes, and then, it gets scrubbed?

COL. CHRIS HADFIELD (RET.), FORMER COMMANDER, INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: Well, it's nothing new. I mean, that happened on the space shuttle, as Kristin mentioned, many, many times.

That's why you have an automatic ground launch sequence or an automatic computer, because there are thousands of things that you have to check to make sure the vehicles healthy. And there is not enough people that could check them all fast enough.

So, you set up an automated system, and it's you go and check, check, check. And one of them, if it's out of family, or if I've got bad data, it says, hey, by our rules, we're not safe to launch today, we got to stop the launch count until we can figure out this problem.

And I think, it's not nearly what it seems for astronauts the way that Kristin was describing it, Suni and Butch have been trading for years. The training is super realistic. And today, they got closer than they have ever gotten to launch. But it's just one more day of training. I had my launches delayed. The first space shuttle launch was delayed for years and years.

So, it's hard, you know, to launch a spaceship for the very first time with people on board. You want to get it right. And it would be nice if we got a launch today. But it's far nicer to make sure that we know what the problems are, and wait until we have a higher probability of success.

So, yes, disappointing. But one more day in the life of two astronauts.

CAMEROTA: Yes. We all -- we all agree that it is better to be safe on the ground. Do you think, Commander that there is a chance that this can launch again tomorrow? Or is that too soon of a turnaround?

HADFIELD: Well, yes, I mean, it sounds like the ground launch sequencer saw something that no one else had been tracking up until then. None of all -- you know, all the flight controllers, all the people watching the data, they all thought, hey, everything looks ok. The computer saw something, and now, we need to figure out exactly what it saw.

And it might just be like a bad sensor. But, you know, you don't have time to troubleshoot it. Part of the problem is, the world is turning. And Florida comes underneath the orbit of the space station. And so, the only time you can launch is when Florida is perfectly underneath the orbit. So, as soon as the world turns a little more, you can't go today, got to wait until the world turns once more.

And maybe, in the time that the world is going to turn here, 24 hours, all the smart folks will figure out, that was what the problem was, and give it another shot tomorrow.

Or on the 5th, trough the 6th. You know, it's just how it goes. It would have been great to see them launch today. It will be even greater to see them launch safely. CAMEROTA: Commander, Kristin was just explaining to us how it's complicated to get the astronauts off the rocket now, you know, you don't just open the door and they hop out. There's a whole team that has to get them off. So, what are they doing right now?

HADFIELD: Well, as Kristin mentioned, you know, if you were a kindergarten class, drawing the picture of astronauts on a rocket ship, you could just sort of draw a bomb with seats on top. That's sort of what -- what's you're on there.

And so, before you go and have the crew climb out, you want to make sure that all of that fuel, the solid fuel and the liquid fuels, the hydrogen, the oxygen, the kerosene, that there is no chance of a stray spark or ignition or procedure getting screwed up. So, so, they want to check all those things.

And you've got carefully written procedures to back out of a launch and safely extract the crew out.

And, you know, they climbed in when it was fully fueled. So, it's not like there was a sudden change, but you just have to follow the procedures, and they're very methodical. There is no great hurry right now. The priority is to get the crew out safely.

And the crew is like, yes, great day of training. Sorry, we disappointed everybody. Hopefully the weather is good tomorrow. We'll give it another shot.

CAMEROTA: Well, we'll be watching. Colonel Chris Hadfield, thank you very much for all the expertise. Kristin Fisher, thank you for all the reporting, as always. We really appreciate it.

HADFIELD: Thanks, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right. Now, to a key security summit with significant implications for Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is there, and he is scheduled to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, to talk about U.S. support of Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand has more on what happened at the summit today.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Secretary Austin addressed the Shangri-La forum here in Singapore earlier today, in a major speech that focus on the idea of convergence of the United States and its Indo Pacific allies hear in favor of security and the rule of law. Thinly veiled message to China, which of course, the United States has accused of flouting international law, especially when it comes to freedom of navigation in the seas and in the air.

Now, Secretary Austin also emphasized the importance though of military-to-military communications with the Chinese, remaining ongoing, saying that, that is what responsible nations do and there is no substitute for that kind of direct dialogue between the U.S. and their Chinese counterparts.

[13:10:06] To that end, the Secretary did, in fact, meet face to face just the other day with his Chinese counterpart for the first time since 2022.

And importantly, Secretary Austin reiterated to the Chinese that there are going to be consequences not only for their actions, potentially, in the South China Sea, and in the region around Taiwan, but also for their support -- and their ongoing support for Russia's defense sector and how that is fueling the war in Ukraine.

Secretary Austin said that if China continues to provide that kind of support for the Russians that the U.S. and its allies will be forced to take further measures.

Now, that is undoubtedly going to be on the agenda for Secretary Austin's meeting with a surprise guest here at the Shangri-La Forum, which is President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, who showed up earlier on Saturday night, and he is expected to meet on Sunday with Secretary Austin alongside his defense minister, Umerov.

They are expected to talk about the battlefield situation in Ukraine as well as what Ukraine needs to defend itself against the Russians right now. And so, expect that meeting to be very significant, of course, for Austin, and for the Ukrainian leader, at a moment when the Chinese, of course, are here as well. And they have continued to provide very significant support for Russia's defense sector.

Natasha Bertrand, CNN, in Singapore.

CAMEROTA: Thank you, Natasha.

OK. Now to the Israel-Hamas war. A new statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, stressed conditions for ending the war, "have not changed."

But yesterday, President Biden laid out a ceasefire proposal, and said Hamas has been severely degraded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: At this point, Hamas no longer is capable of carrying out another October 7th. It's one of the Israelis main objectiveness to this war. It's time for this war to end. For the day after two began.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right. Joining me now is Joel Rubin, former deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs in the Obama administration. Joel, thanks so much for being here.

It sounds like President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu have a fundamental difference of opinion, in whether the goal of defeating Hamas has been achieved. So, now what?

JOEL RUBIN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes, Alisyn, it's great to be with you. And this is a difference that is really in the negotiation process.

And I think what you see with President Biden is real. American leadership and trying to lay out a vision that provides comprehensive security and stability for Israel, and a pathway to normalization between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

And this is based upon an assessment that Hamas has been degraded to a point where it cannot conduct the kind of horrific attack that it did in October 7th, to start this whole war.

And I think, the president sees a window of opportunity. And so, what he did yesterday, is he spoke publicly, in a very clear, clean, way to the Israeli people, and say, look, these are the stakes, here is an opportunity, I believe that we have a pathway forward. And he's putting the pressure on the prime minister, to continue to lean forward on negotiations. And remember, I want to add, the Israelis did propose this three-step process, and they agreed to it.

And he is trying to keep them in the fold while putting a lot of pressure on Hamas to accept it.

CAMEROTA: But it doesn't sound like Prime Minister Netanyahu agrees with the assessment that Hamas has been degraded".

RUBIN: Well, he has got a lot of internal dynamics that he has to manage. And certainly, in his coalition, there is going to be a lot of push back from the far right from ministers like Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Bezalel Smotrich, who are opposed to any kind of agreement at all whatsoever between Israel and the Palestinians, and pulling out forces from Gaza.

But he's going to have to negotiate this in the coming days. There are factions within Israeli politics. For example, Benny Gantz, he is a member of the war Cabinet, is calling for new elections and trying to get into Parliament dissolved.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has to look in the mirror at this moment and decide, does he want to be on the side of long-term security for Israel? And if so, he needs to grab this idea that President Biden's put forward that the Israelis themselves in their security establishment does see as an important component to long term security for Israel.

CAMEROTA: I mean, but given those dynamics as you lay it out --

RUBIN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Does President Biden stance hold any sway with Netanyahu?

RUBIN: It does. Look, this is a -- first of all, America is the best friend of Israel, without a doubt. And President Biden has been the best president for Israeli security that we've ever seen.

Recently, just in April, shooting down Iranian missiles launched at Israeli territory. And Israeli people know that his very high approval ratings much higher in Israel than Prime Minister Netanyahu. And so, he's going to negotiate. Remember, President Biden is a tough negotiator and a savvy one. He built a multinational coalition with NATO expansion included to oppose Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He negotiates with Republicans all the time, and gets legislative priorities through the House. He is been at this for a number of decades.

[13:15:05]

And so, he sees a window right now to push and cajole Prime Minister Netanyahu to agree to move forward. And I think that this is a realistic path that he is laid out. It's one that the Israelis have talked about the negotiating table for months. And this is not out of their realm of possibility. So, he is trying to seal this deal right now.

CAMEROTA: Obviously, it's one thing to talk about policy and diplomacy. And then it's another thing to look at what's happening on the ground.

(CROSSTALK)

RUBIN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: We have some video out of Gaza last night, and basically, it shows that the sun setting there over the sea, as Palestinians are sitting in, you know, what looks like the bombed-out ruins.

And so, you know, I mean --

RUBIN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: What -- how involved will the U.S. be in helping to rebuild whatever was there?

RUBIN: Yes, Alisyn, it's heartbreaking. Gaza, and what the people of Gaza have experienced because of Hamas's launch of that war on October 7th, and the continual holding of hostages, which has demonstrated their lack of concern for human life. The third part of this proposal that the president laid out requires and includes that is construction and reconstruction supported by the international community by Arab Gulf States, who could be participants in this by neighbors in the region.

The United States, those the essential glue. Without us, none of this happens. We must be involved and we will be involved. Part of the first phase of the deal also would be to provide 600 trucks daily of humanitarian assistance. That's crucial for the people in Gaza right now.

So, you can see the United States playing a critical role throughout the process to make sure that all of our allies in the region, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, you name it, that they come to the table and help to reconstruct Gaza after this war.

CAMEROTA: Joel Rubin. Thanks for all the information. Great to have you on.

RUBIN: Thanks, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right. Coming up, we're following breaking news.

A sentencing verdict has been reached in Chad Daybell's triple murder trial. We'll have all the details coming up for you.

Plus, a city-wide water outage in Atlanta after two major water main breaks in just one day. We had the latest details of what's happening there. Straight ahead.

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[13:21:57]

CAMEROTA: The highest court in Texas rejects a challenge to the state's strict abortion ban. Several women in Texas who suffered serious health complications during their pregnancies sued the state, alleging the current abortion restrictions put their health and lives at risk.

But yesterday, the Texas Supreme Court, which is made up entirely of Republicans ruled the challengers did not prove that the ban violates the state's constitution. The Center for Reproductive Rights which filed the lawsuit on behalf of these women says, they will continue to pursue other legal avenues.

OK, at this moment, at least two water main breaks in Atlanta are soaking much of the downtown and leaving residents without usable water. Popular tourist attractions like the Georgia Aquarium are forced to close and the rapper, Megan Thee Stallion had to cancel her show because of this.

CNN's Rafael Romo is on the street in Midtown Atlanta. I think we see the problem, Rafael.

Can you hear us, Rafael? I'm sure it is very noisy where he is, because he's right in front of the water main break.

Rafael, can you hear us at this moment? Yes. He can't hear us. It's very loud that he -- you can see the water main break erupting right behind Rafael. So, we will tell you -- we'll get back to him as soon as we can and find out what the scene is in Atlanta.

OK. Meanwhile, reckless, dangerous, irresponsible. That's what President Biden says about Donald Trump's reaction to being convicted. So, much more on this historic verdict when we return.

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[13:28:02]

CAMEROTA: Donald Trump's conviction appears to be paying off for him financially. He posted on his social media account that the campaign raised nearly $53 million in the 24 hours following the guilty verdict. CNN's Paula Reid has more on what comes next.

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The New York criminal case against former President Trump is far from over. Of course, the next date on the calendar is his sentencing, on July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention.

Our sources tell CNN, it's unclear if Trump's legal team will move to push that back later in the year. There will be meetings about that over the next few days to figure out if they want to let that sentencing date stand and use it politically as they enter to the convention or if they want to push it back a few weeks given that his legal team will be busy with another case down in Florida, through the end of June.

Now, after that, we expect that the Trump team will ultimately file an appeal. Throughout the course of this case, they have been preparing for the possibility of an appeal if there was a conviction. They have been filing motions, raising objections, trying to preserve any constitutional questions.

Now, that process will likely take a long time, possibly last until after the November election.

Paula Reid, CNN, New York.

CAMEROTA: OK. Let's talk more now with one of our favorite guests. I'm joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning, presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Her new book, "An Unfinished Love Story" A Personal History of the 1960s" is available now.

Doris, always great to have you.

DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Oh, glad to be with you.

CAMEROTA: So, help us put this week in historical context. Because obviously, U.S. presidents have been in trouble before and even broken the law before. So, give us the significance of Donald Trump's conviction.

GOODWIN: I think the significance is that what the conviction revolves around is an election.

[13:30:01]

I mean that's what we have seen this whole past four years. In this case, the conviction meant that he lost his bid for acquittal, and it had to do with influencing the 2016 election with unlawful means.

What we've -- what we've been dealing with really since 2020 is the loss of that election and a series of unlawful acts that he's now indicted for in other courts that had to do with not accepting that loss.

It's so important in our political system for the peaceful transition of power. Democracy is about letting us vote people in or throw them out. And in both these cases, we're dealing with failure to accept a loss.

Instead of accepting this loss and this conviction, they're now claiming the rule of law is wrong, the jury system is wrong, it's corrupt. That's a dangerous game to be playing.

Because our institutions depend on trust in our institutions, and that trust has already been diminished. When you look at every institution that's under -- underwater. And now it's going to be more so. Unless the competing story can be told. That's the key.

CAMEROTA: And what would that sound like?

GOODWIN: I think what the competing story has to be is that there's a pattern here of what we've seen over these last years.

It now starts earlier than we realize, perhaps until this case took place, with a candidate for the presidency, who was worried that his election might be lost if this material got out, used unlawful means perhaps to, as the conviction seems to suggest, to prevent these stories from Stormy Daniels -- Daniels and others to get out. And is now being held responsible for that.

Instead of accepting that responsibility or any kind of remorse for that, there's an attempt to turn against the jury system, one of the hallmarks of democracy.

And then we go forward. After this conviction, we have indictments now for the 2020 election, when that peaceful transition of power was not agreed to, the only time in history that a president has not agreed to that.

When instead, unlawful means are indicted, or at least suggested that he used in order to obstruct a position in -- in January 4th, an official proceeding, unlawful means to count the electoral votes in a different way.

And it's all part of a story, really. And elections are at the center of what a democracy is. And I think that story has to be a narrative. There's competing narrative out there.

And in many ways, the other side has won a competing narrative in terms of January 6th. It's not the same way it was, it seemed, in January 6th. It's been turned into a stolen election. It's been turned into a corrupt electoral system.

And it's going to depend on where the public thinks this pattern exists and who's going to tell that story.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Well, I want to ask you, I mean, speaking of the hallmarks of democracy, you know, Donald Trump rails against many, if not most, of our bedrock American principles.

He doesn't like our elections system. He doesn't like our top medical experts during the pandemic. He doesn't like our criminal justice system now.

Has there ever been a presidential candidate who has taken such, for lack of a better term, an anti-American stance before?

GOODWIN: You know, it's a really interesting question because part of what he was arguing in these last days is that America itself is a third-world country, that we're in a great sense of decline, that we're a Banana Republic.

And usually in an election, this very rare that a candidate talks about America that way. There's a vision of the future that you want to present that we are something that we can be even better than we are.

And maybe there's a gap between where we want to be and where we are. But there's a sense of moving forward and a sense of -- I mean, that's why, even in the midst of the Depression, you have FDR as the happy warrior. It seems crazy, but he wants to project a confidence in the future, even in a really tough time.

So it's a very unusual thing to be talking so badly about a country. And the question is, are people really feeling as badly as he thinks they are? I mean, we've got an economy that's better than any in the world.

Yes, there are problems with inflation. Yes, there are problems with the mortgages. But it's hard to argue that we're in a terrible state economically. It's hard to argue that we're in a terrible state in so many ways.

And yet, if people believe that, it's hard to know. I just don't know whether these polls will show up. We'll see what happens when people really think.

When -- when you feel democracy in your blood, in a certain sense, when you feel it viscerally, emotionally, it's when you go in the poll and you close that curtain behind you, if they still have those curtains in some places, and you mark your ballot and millions of others are doing the same thing, and you're making that decision.

You feel democracy when you see a jury trial that's worked for days and hours, put themselves forward and managed to somehow come up with a unanimous verdict.

And those are the moments that I think people have to be made to feel, what is democracy? If they feel that, then I think the railing against the electoral system, the expert system in science, the expert system, and now the jury system, it's going to seem too much.

It's going to seem like one man is railing against our entire American system. And do we really want that to happen?

CAMEROTA: And your new book "An Unfinished Love Story," is a personal history of the 1960s. That obviously was a decade of incredible political upheaval, the civil rights movement, Vietnam War, political assassinations.

[13:35:06]

So what -- compare that decade to now and what the lessons were?

GOODWIN: I think what's so important to remember about the '60s is that it started out with so many difficulties. You had Birmingham, you had civil rights peaceful marches that were set upon by hoses and dogs.

And then, at Selma, you had Alabama state troopers that we're pushing into the peaceful marchers going over the bridge to -- for the right to vote.

And it seemed like, what country do we have that this can happen?

And yet ,the conscience of the American people was fired. We got a Civil Rights Act that changed the face of the south. We've got a Voting Rights Act that finally made voting free and fair for many black Americans.

And the system worked in that sense. Yes, you had assassinations. And, yes, you had anti-war -- the anti-war movement even worked at the beginning with the McCarthy campaign, and it led to the withdrawal of Lyndon Johnson, his willingness to say that the bombing would stop. His willing to say I'm going to negotiate with the North Vietnamese.

And then things got out of control. Martin Luther King died, Robert Kennedy died, and it seemed like the system was undoing itself. And that led to the violence at the Democratic convention in 1968.

So we remember that last part. We've got to remember the other part, that there was a decade that was powered by individuals believing that they could change things, that they could make a difference.

And when you feel that, when citizens are empowered -- and that's what I think has to happen again now. It's now up to the citizens to determine in that election what kind of an America we want and what kind of a candidate do we want?

You wouldn't even have to mention the former presidents name to say, do we want a candidate for president or do we want a president who cannot accept loss with grace, who cannot acknowledge errors, who does not have resilience.

Who, most importantly, is unwilling to put ambition before self. You have to put the greater good above ambition for self. That's the critical thing you need in a leader.

You look at all the leaders I've studied, and all of those qualities, those emotional qualities are what we're looking for. And we have to ask, does this man, has he shown us qualities? You wouldn't even have to mention his name. Just say those are the qualities we want and you see what's happening.

CAMEROTA: Doris Kearns Goodwin, always great to have you. Thanks so much for being on.

GOODWIN: Thank you, Alisyn. CAMEROTA: All right, here's an incredible update. Twenty years after the death of Laci Peterson, a judge will allow new DNA testing on a piece of evidence. What does that mean? We're going to break it down.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:42:14]

CAMEROTA: All right, let me update you on what's happening in Atlanta at this hour. At least two water main breaks are soaking much of the downtown, as you can see, and leaving residents without usable water.

The Georgia Aquarium was forced to close and the rapper, Megan, Thee Stallion, had to cancel her show.

CNN's Rafael Romo is on the street in midtown Atlanta.

Rafael, what's the latest there?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Alisyn, we heard from city officials earlier today and they say they have spent a significant amount of time removing pressure from the system in order to conduct the necessary repairs.

But take a look at the water gushing and shooting up into the air right here behind me. As you can see, it's reaching the awning of that corner restaurant here in Atlanta's midtown neighborhood.

Officials say there are two major water main breaks, but the keyword here is "major" because, in the last 24 hours, they had to rush to several breaks, like the one behind me.

Why hasn't the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management been able to repair the water main breaks? This is what Commissioner Al Wiggins had to say about the challenges they face.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL WIGGINS, COMMISSIONER, ATLANTA DEPARTMENT OF WATERSHED MANAGEMENT: The crews are now actively slowly pressurizing the system. And the reason that that -- that we're slowly pressurizing this system is that we want to ensure that we don't cause damages to other areas of the network.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And, Alisyn, as you mentioned at the beginning, several of Atlanta's top tourist destinations have been forced to close. So in this weekend after Memorial Day, those attractions, like the World of Coca-Cola, are not only important for this city, but top destinations here in the south.

We talked to so a couple of British tourists who are disappointed, as you can imagine, about being unable to visit those attractions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NEILL SHEPPARD, BRITISH TOURIST: We've never been here before. We wanted to look around the Coca-Cola factory, the aquarium, different places. And everything's closed.

JANE SHEPPARD, BRITISH TOURIST: We're really disappointed that we couldn't see what we wanted to see and experience the whole thing. So because of the water main breaking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Earlier, I also spoke with a worker at a nearby restaurant who told me, beyond having to shut down during the weekend, they're also dealing with draining their ice machines and soda fountain to prevent contamination, among other things.

The city of Atlanta issued a citywide water service disruption notice yesterday, shortly before 5:00 p.m. That notice still stands.

Alisyn, back to you.

CAMEROTA: OK. It looks like it's going to be a while before they fix that.

Rafael Romo, thank you very much.

[13:44:59]

Meanwhile, an Idaho jury makes its decision on whether or not convicted murderer, Chad Daybell, should get the death penalty. We have that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: We're following some breaking news. The jury reaching a decision in the penalty phase of Chad Daybell's murder trial. He was convicted earlier this week in Idaho for killing his first wife and two of his second wife's children.

Prosecutors claim he was fueled by power, sex, money and apocalyptic spiritual beliefs.

[13:50:06]

CNN's Camila Bernal joins me from Los Angeles.

So, Camila, what did the jury decide?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Alisyn. The jury decided that Chad Daybell will spend the rest of his life on Death Row. This is the highest punishment that was given by this jury just moments ago, saying that all of the aggravating factors in this case essentially justify the death penalty.

So you mentioned the sex, the power, the money, the apocalyptic beliefs. This is a man who was convicted of killing the two children of his second wife, Tylee and J.J. It's a 16-year-old and a seven- year-old child that we're murdered by Chad Daybell, and his first wife, Tammy.

And so what prosecutors here said was that the aggravating factors would include the fact that this was done for money, that this was utter disregard for human life, that this was cruel and atrocious, that he had essentially been a threat to society.

And that's why the jury decided saying yes to all of these aggravating factors and saying yes to the death penalty here.

Youi know, he was staring at the judge essentially the entire time. There was no reaction from Chad Daybell.

This is a man who was a preacher, who spoke about his beliefs and his religious beliefs. And now he was, you know, motionless as he was told that his penalty essentially is death -- Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK. Camila Bernal, thank you for that.

Also, there are new details in a decades-old murder case that gripped the country. Scott Peterson was convicted in 2004 of the murder of his wife, Laci, and their unborn son.

Now, in an effort to get a new trial, his legal team requested 14 pieces of evidence be retested for DNA. This week, the judge approved just one of those. It's a piece of duct tape recovered from the body of his wife at the time of her autopsy.

Human DNA was found on the tape, but at the time, not enough to generate an identification.

Joining me now is Beth Karas. She's a lawyer, former prosecutor, and also former Court TV reporter.

Beth, great to see you.

So what does all this mean?

BETH KARAS, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Nice to see you, too. Alisyn?

Well, it's hopeful for Scott Peterson that the duct tape will now yield a DNA profile. You know, in the past 20 years since it was tested, DNA testing, the technology, has become more sophisticated, so maybe there will be an opportunity to get a profile.

But the question is, will it be Laci's profile, Scott's profile or someone else?

But this one piece of duct tape is -- it was already tested, as you mentioned, and it is the only piece that the judge, of the evidence they wanted retested or tested or for the first time, that the judge found was connected enough to Laci and the crime, that it warranted further testing.

But everything else was just -- it was just too speculative. And so she did not allow any other items to be tested.

CAMEROTA: But, Beth, if there's DNA belonging to someone other than Scott Peterson, does he get a new trial?

KARAS: I don't know if that that will be enough to get a new trial. She was in the bay for 3.5 months. Is it possible that this is duct tape that somehow clung to her as a result of, you know, something that was floating in the water?

But I -- I don't -- I don't recall from the trial, which I was at, if it -- if it was situated so that it prompts, she was maybe wrapped in it? Possibly, if that's the case, maybe. I don't know that it'll be enough to get her -- get him a new trial.

But it would certainly go a long way to further that argument. I think it's -- I think it's a real longshot.

CAMEROTA: So as you know, the Los Angeles Innocence Project -- that's a non-profit that works to exonerate people who are wrongly convicted -- has taken up Scott Peterson's claim of innocence.

Why? I mean, is there compelling evidence that someone else murdered Laci?

KARAS: You know, his family has been on a crusade, and I can't blame them for it, ever since he was convicted in the past two decades to try to get him exonerated.

He's had some very good appeals. He succeeded in getting his death sentence overturned. And rather than re-try him for a new death penalty or life sentence, the state just agreed to give him a life sentence. So he's doing life without parole.

Because that's what you get in California anyway, with a moratorium on death. So 700 or so people on death row aren't being executed. So then a life-without-parole sentence.

And so he's had a lot of appeals, the family's been very supportive and helpful in that process in saving his life.

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But at some point, it's just got to stop. I do not believe that the wrong person is in prison. I was at that trial.

I know that there are people who are looking at the evidence differently. But I think it's revisionist history. There -- that burglary occurred after Laci disappeared, and that's a burglary of a home across the street.

Burglars didn't kidnap her. That burglary happened hours, a day or so after she went missing.

CAMEROTA: That's very important context.

Beth Karas, thank you very much for all the information.

KARAS: My pleasure. CAMEROTA: All right, we're waiting for more information about the last-minute scrub of the Boeing Starliner launch. We're going to go live to the Kennedy Space Center for the latest.

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