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Trump Found Guilty Of All 34 Charges In New York Hush Money Case; President Biden Calls On Hamas To Accept Israel's Roadmap To Peace; Mexico's Historic Election Overshadowed By Violence; Boeing Starliner Launch Scrubbed Just Minutes Before Liftoff; Atlantic Hurricane Season Begins As Experts Predict Most Volatile Season In History; Major Water Main Break Leaves Parts Of Atlanta Without Water. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired June 01, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

JOE KEILTY, GROOM: One of the penguins did peck one of the guests.

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And all of the penguins left wedding presents on the lawn outside. What's a few presents when you can have a ring-bearing penguin who doesn't even have to rent a tuxedo.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You may kiss the bride.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Just when you think you've seen it all.

Thanks for joining me today. I'm Alisyn Camerota. I'll see you back here tomorrow. And NEWSROOM with Jessica Dean starts right now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in Washington.

And we begin today with former president and now convicted felon Donald Trump boasting a surging campaign donations following the verdict in his historic hush money criminal trial. The Trump campaign says it has raised nearly $53 million since he was found guilty by a Manhattan jury of falsifying business records in order to influence the 2016 election.

The judge has set Trump's sentencing date for July 11th. That's just days before the Republican National Convention, where Trump is expected to be tapped as the party's nominee. Trump, of course, planning to appeal and yesterday he gave a glimpse of how he intends to forge ahead with his campaign, falsely calling the trial rigged and claiming political persecution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a case where if they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone. These are bad people. These are, in many cases, I believe sick people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Just hours after that vengeful press conference, President Biden for the first time commented on the verdict saying no one is above the law, and strongly condemning Trump's lies about the trial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's reckless. It's dangerous. It's irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don't like the verdict. The justice system should be respected, and we should never allow anyone to tear it down. It's as simple as that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Here now to discuss all of this is CNN senior political commentator and former Republican congressman of Illinois, Adam Kinzinger.

Great to have you here with us, Congressman. Thanks for making time. First, I just want to get --

ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You bet. Yes.

DEAN: Yes. I just wanted to get your reaction to the verdict and the way that Trump handled himself afterwards, just showing absolutely no remorse and forging ahead with much of the same that we've heard.

KINZINGER: Well, the verdict was right. I think, you know, it's a fair argument to say if somebody wants to argue that the case shouldn't have been brought because, again, prosecutors make, you know, subjective decisions every day. I think that's a fair argument to make. I disagree with it, but it's fair argument.

But the bottom line is, OK, the case was brought as happens every day all around America cases are brought. The question is, was there a crime committed? And if somebody -- you know, the Republicans have to answer that. If they say no, there was no crime committed, then they are denigrating the jury system because the jury said, yes, there was a crime committed. It was proven beyond a reasonable doubt to jury members, some of which probably supported Donald Trump.

And if they say, you know, yes, there was a crime committed, then OK. Well, then there's a crime committed and we have to face justice. What's been interesting in all of this is the mass psychosis you see now among Republican elected officials, Republican think tanks like the Heritage Foundation, flying the American flag upside down, which Colin Kaepernick probably would love to see this, to see now the Republicans are OK with signs like this.

This mass psychosis is from a political perspective, just the raw politics is very damaging probably to Donald Trump in November because I don't think most Americans are saying yes, this mass psychosis is warranted. But secondarily the damage it's doing to the justice system, the faith

in the justice system is absolutely incredible.

DEAN: Right. Because there's the political piece of it which you're getting at and we can kind of put that aside into one bucket. But then to your point, there is the damage it's doing to the judicial system and more broadly his attacks on democracy, on our elections, it all kind of runs -- it's all branches of the same tree kind of undermining the establishment in America, in American democracy.

KINZINGER: Yes, that's right. Think about this. You know, as a congressman, I represented 700,000 people. Senators, you know, represent anywhere from, I guess a million to whatever the biggest, you know, whatever California is. And so you are vested with a really an amazing responsibility. You can play the art of politics. You can, you know, compromise a little bit to benefit the party. You know, all this is stuff that goes on.

But the bottom line when it comes to constitutional questions, when it comes to the sanctity of the system that our founding fathers put in place, you have a unique responsibility to defend that.

[16:05:09]

When I took an oath, I did not take an oath to the 16th Congressional District in Illinois. The oath I took had nothing to do with the people I represent. It's controversial to say that but it's true. My oath was to the Constitution and the Constitution alone. And the demand of me was even if your district wants you to do something that violates the Constitution, the oath you took prevents you from doing that.

And every one of these elected officials, whether it's a township supervisor, all the way up to the main candidate for president or a U.S. senator, need to remember that their oath is to the sanctity of the Constitution, and in self-governance, when you violate people's trust in those basic institutions, it is hard to see how self- governance can survive in the long run.

DEAN: What do you say to those people who say this was the right verdict, wrong case? We wanted the other cases to be brought forward, but it's likely that this will likely be the only trial that Trump faces before the election.

KINZINGER: Yes, look, I kind of agree with that. I would have liked to have seen the January 6th case or the classified documents case go first, but we don't have that choice. The fact -- that doesn't say just because if you want those cases to go first doesn't say that this case is not important. It is. It was not brought against Donald Trump when he was president because he was president. When he got out of the presidency, that's when the investigation commenced.

They found a crime. They took it through the legal process in a jury of Donald Trump's peers. Again, it's really important to note, probably a handful of these jurors voted for Donald Trump, but they couldn't deny the evidence. And this more than anything Republicans may be trying to destroy the faith in the jury system. This actually to me reconfirms that a jury, no matter what their political bias, can sit, look at the evidence and make a decision based on the evidence and not based on tribal identity.

DEAN: And Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson thinks this guilty verdict is going to lead to ultimately a second Trump presidency. I want to play a clip of what he told reporters in Ohio yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): We're outraged by it. I think the American people are. What happened to President Trump is lawfare. Theres no other way to describe it. They went after, the Democrat Party, and they use the system of justice to go after a political opponent. I think that this will probably guarantee that President Trump is re- elected president. And I think their battery is going to backfire on them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: So aside from the completely false claims that this trial was led by Democrats to prosecute Trump, the speaker also said that the Supreme Court should intervene.

Congressman, what do you think of the speaker's comments?

KINZINGER: Well, look, as a person of faith myself, I'm very disappointed to see a person of faith lie to the American -- especially in such a powerful position, lie about this.

Look, you can't just -- I don't think you can just take it right to the U.S. Supreme Court but from the raw political perspective, I don't think there is a single person despite the Twitter chat that you see which is what the narrative they're trying to get out. I don't think there's a single person that was committed to Joe Biden that because of these felonies has now said, I'm going to vote for Donald Trump, particularly when you pair that with again the mass psychosis you're seeing.

Not a responsible reaction, the psychosis. It may please 30 percent of kind of the most hardcore Trump base, but the rest of America is going, wow, this is weird. So like I don't think you're going to see massive shifts in the polls as a result of this. But this is an election that's going to be decided on the margins and a few states. And I think there are people, Republicans particularly, not a ton of them, but some, that are uncomfortable with voting for a convicted felon that can't purchase a weapon, that if he was in the U.S. Military would be dishonorably discharged, and is now ineligible, had it gone through a security clearance process to get even a basic security clearance because of this felony conviction.

Now you want him to be commander-in-chief? I think that will have an impact and I don't think it's going to be in Donald Trump's benefit.

DEAN: And so I hear what you're saying on all of that and you talked a little bit about his base, the hold he has on those people who are never going to abandon him, and to that end, he -- the Trump campaign said there were $53 million, $53 million in donations following his guilty verdict. What does that number tell you?

KINZINGER: Well, it says that there's, you know, the leaders of whether it's Donald Trump or the -- his surrogates or people under him have convinced these folks that there is a conspiracy out against him. I mean, all you have to do is look at what you see on Twitter or Truth Social and you see that there is a conspiracy mentality in the GOP. Everything from they're out to get us, the deep state, you know, Donald Trump feeds on being a victim.

[16:10:00]

This small man feeds on his victimness and has convinced his base that they're victims, too. He said in the soundbite you played, if they can come after me, they can come after you. True. If you run for president and you pay off a porn star and use that in furtherance of a crime to hide that, you know, a couple of weeks before an election where it could have made a difference, yes. They will come after you. That's a good lesson.

And so it says to me that yes, they're committed to this. I don't think money has much of an impact in politics as much as it used to because people's minds are made up, but it actually saddens me as a Republican to see the base, you know, many of them on a fixed income, continue to feed this guy's grift at the cost of their own ability to buy medicine and food. It makes me sad actually.

DEAN: Do you think that the former president should face jail time?

KINZINGER: Look, that's a tough one. I'll leave that one up to, you know, how they sentence him. He certainly hasn't shown any remorse, you know, which you would expect when somebody is going up for sentencing, to show some version of remorse or at least be quiet in the press. He's not doing that. He's continuing to attack. So I'll leave that to the judge.

Obviously, you know, Donald Trump in jail would have a serious implication for this country, but we can't do justice on the basis of somebody just announced they're running for president or, you know, a special class of people that are somehow exempt from justice. That's everything that we should be fighting against. Equal justice under the law is what we're for and not some being accepted from justice because they either decided to run for president or they're rich.

DEAN: And I just want to ask you before I let you go, we are now nearing the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Of course, that led to the defeat of the Nazis. It's coming up next week. Now 80 years later, the leading Republican candidate for president is declaring the USA a, quote, "fascist state." There has been Hitler propaganda that he's put out there.

How do you think history judges this moment and what does it say that 80 years later this is what's going on?

KINZINGER: Look, I think 100 years ago was, you know, about was the 1930s. This is a real similar time to the 1930s. You have open Nazis operating. There was some massive division but this just goes to show me that Donald Trump is not a true leader. He doesn't aspire people to inspiration. He creates division. It's sad to see this happening to our nation at this time. But I truly believe we're going to come back stronger from this moment because in 10 years and I'd almost put my hand on the bible, except I can't truly predict the future.

In 10 years there's not going to be a single person in this country that will ever admit they supported Donald Trump, I believe, because we are going to reject this. And Donald Trump can call this a fascist country. He's very good at projecting on other people his own intentions. He's the most fascist person some to run for president that we've had in a very long time or ever in this country, and America needs to reject that.

DEAN: All right, Adam Kinzinger, let's leave it there. We really appreciate it. Thanks so much.

KINZINGER: You bet. Yes.

DEAN: The new Gaza peace proposal shared by President Biden is getting some strong pushback from Israel's prime minister who says the conditions for getting out of Gaza have not changed, as the families of hostages still being held by Hamas begged the Israeli government to accept this deal.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:18:06]

DEAN: New tonight President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to be at odds again over the war in Gaza. Netanyahu saying the war will not end until Hamas is defeated. And that seems to contradict the new peace proposal laid out by President Biden, which he says Israel submitted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: At this point, Hamas no longer is capable of carrying out another October 7th, just one of Israeli's main objectiveness in this war. It's time for this war to end for the day after to begin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joining us now, journalist Elliot Gotkine.

Elliot, nice to see you. We know Israeli protesters are out marching as we speak. They are calling for an early election. They are calling for Benjamin Netanyahu to accept this plan. Tell us more about how these latest developments are playing out in Israel.

ELLIOT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Jessica, as you say, out on the streets it's a similar picture to what we've seen on an almost daily basis, but certainly especially on a Saturday evening is protests. Thousands of people here in Tel Aviv, in Jerusalem and other cities across Israel calling on the government not only to step down so that there can be fresh elections. But in particular, that they should do a deal to bring the hostages home.

And I suppose after President Biden's statement, the hope will be even greater among the families who still have hostages in Gaza since they were abducted on October 7th, and also many Israelis. And it's worth noting that in opinion polls, the majority of Israelis say that getting the hostages home is more of an important, more objective, than destroying Hamas militarily. They will be hope that even though there have been false dawns before that this could be the real deal, and that we're closer than ever to getting a deal.

That's what's happening on the streets. Politically, it's very interesting what we're thing because in a very rare move, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put out a statement on the Jewish Sabbath not necessarily denying that Israel has signed up to the deal that is now being reviewed by Hamas.

[16:20:09]

Hamas' initial reaction has been to view it positively, but to reiterate that until such time as Israel's conditions are met, the war will be over. Now those three conditions Netanyahu laid out are destroying Hamas militarily and its governing capabilities, getting the hostages home, and also preventing Gaza from being able to threaten Israel.

And so I think from his perspective, he would argue that the deal that he has centered to that is now being reviewed by Hamas does not preclude Israel from fulfilling those war objectives as part of this three-phase deal. That said the far-right ministers in his governing coalition have predictably come out and said that any deal or this deal as it seems to stand and would effectively be a surrender to Hamas, in their words, that they wouldn't accept it and therefore, they would pull out of the government.

Now that wouldn't necessarily mean that the government wouldn't have the numbers to get this deal over the line. For one, opposition leader Yair Lapid has said that he would support this deal. So Netanyahu would be able to have enough votes in the Knesset, even without the far-right ministers and their political parties. But it's what happens after that may be playing on his mind in the sense that even if you can get this deal through the Knesset, if his far-right ministers withdraw from the governing coalition, his government would collapse.

There would be fresh elections and opinion polls suggest those would be elections that Netanyahu would lose -- Jessica.

DEAN: Elliot Gotkine, thanks so much.

Joining us now, former editor-in-chief of the "Jerusalem Post," Avi Mayer.

It's so nice to have you here with us. As Elliot is speaking just now, it just strikes me that Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself in an interesting moment because he is holding both what is potentially best for his country and best for his people and what might be better or best for him personally and his political future.

AVI MAYER, FORMER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, JERUSALEM POST: Well, Jessica, that's exactly right. And I think Elliot described the tensions and dilemma that Netanyahu faces very aptly. On the one hand, of course, there are those protesters you're seeing in the background who are calling for a hostage deal, seemingly at any cost, bring those hostages home. Many Israelis share that sentiment. On the other hand, there are members of his own governing coalition who are saying that if he does proceed with the proposal as outlined by the president, they will bolt the coalition and potentially bring down the government.

Again there is the possibility that other parties could join instead. There'll be a very rickety coalition one that doesn't share Prime Minister Netanyahu's a policy objectives. It doesn't know whether or not to be able to survive politically. And I think he's under a great deal stress at this time.

DEAN: And so we saw President Biden come out, give these remarks, lay out this peace proposal that he says Israel has crafted. And now we see Netanyahu saying that that they are not giving up until they eliminate Hamas. And it does seem like they're at odds still with one another.

What do you make of all of those dynamics that are at play right now?

MAYER: Well, I think it's interesting to look at the words. I think the semantics actually do matter here. What Prime Minister Netanyahu said is that Israel will not agree to a permanent ceasefire until Hamas' capabilities are depleted. That is not necessarily in direct contradiction to what the president has said. There's a way of sort of reconciling the two. I think that's sort of what Prime Minister Netanyahu was trying to do at this time as he's walking this very narrow tight rope between these two very I think opposing forces in his coalition.

We're also waiting to see what Hamas says. In the past, Hamas has been the obstacles to any comprehensive ceasefire proposal that Israel has agreed to time and time again. We now see a proposal that is closer to what Hamas had originally said. For example, Israel appears to now be agreeing to receive dead bodies in place of actual living hostages in the first stage of the ceasefire. That is not something Israel had agreed to do up until this point, even if Hamas has pushed it. And so it looks like we are sort of coming closer to Hamas' position. The question is whether, will Hamas actually will agree to this.

DEAN: Right. And that is kind of -- that was my next question that I do want to ask you about because you rightly point out that off so many times Hamas has just refused to agree to any of these potential deals, and now they have this one that is slightly more nuanced in the ways you just laid out, being one example. And so is there a possibility that that moves the needle for them anyway?

MAYER: Look, it's certainly a possibility. We know that Hamas has, A, rejected ceasefire deals in the past and when they have taken place has violated them as it has in the earlier stages of this war. So Hamas of course is not a reliable partner, which is why Israel wants to ensure that it has the security guarantees it needs to ensure the security of its people, and that Hamas can never again pose a threat to the people Israel as did October 7th.

[16:25:09]

The president referenced that in his speech saying that at the moment Hamas capabilities have been sufficiently depleted by the wars that it cannot pose the same kind of threat, but Israelis are likely to not view that as being sufficient in and of itself, and there's still freedom of activity to ensure that if Hamas does rear its head again, Israel can respond and ensure that it doesn't pose a threat as did back then.

DEAN: And we heard President Biden say yesterday that Hamas is no longer capable of carrying out an October 7th type attack. Do you think Benjamin Netanyahu believes that? Do you think the Israeli government believes that?

MAYER: Based on the assessments we have of the number of Hamas terrorists who've been killed so far that does seem to be the case. Hamas' capacity to control the events in the Gaza Strip, to rule it in any meaningful way has been completely decimated. I mean, so I would agree that at this point, Hamas does not have the same capabilities it did on October 7th. But the challenge will be ensuring that that remains the case. There's some governing authority in Gaza that ensures that Hamas is kept low and does not able to rearm and pose a threat yet again.

DEAN: All right. Avi Mayer, we really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

MAYER: Thank you.

DEAN: Up next history in the making in Mexico where a woman is set to become the country's next president. That moment comes amid a wave of murders against political candidates across that country. What's driving that political violence.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:31:05]

DEAN: Mexico could be on the verge of making history this weekend, possibly electing its first female president.

Voters are headed to the polls tomorrow with women as the top-two presidential contenders. This though, as campaign-related violence has been dominating the headlines,

CNN's Gustavo Valdes is in Mexico City, covering the historic election.

And, Gustavo, how is this violence expected to affect the elections? GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Jessica. Well, public safety

is a number-one issue in the mind of voters. We've talked about it. And that is because over 30 candidates have been assassinated this political cycle. One, just this past Friday, not far away from Mexico City.

And this is not necessarily political violence. This is not one party against the other.

You know, what is happening is, whoever controls these cities, whatever the organized criminal organization is in these places, are basically trying to flex the political muscle as either trying to help the candidate of their choosing or trying to tell the people who really controls those regions.

And this is the challenge the next president is going to have. Claudia Sheinbaum, who represents the official party, Morena, the party that's currently in power, she wants to continue the policies of person and that Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has basically had -- has a hands-off approach to dealing with crime. Not engaging the army of the armed forces to go after the organized criminal organizations in the country.

And this is what Xochitl Galvez is trying to change. She is proposing a partnership with the United States to create a bi-national police force to deal with organized crime and money laundering.

DEAN: All right. Gustavo Valdes, for us, thank you so much for that reporting.

And joining us now is David Shirk, professor of political science and international relations at the University of San Diego.

Professor, thanks so much for making time to be here this afternoon.

I want to talk first with you about how the possibility of electing a female president is being viewed in a country that is known for a very traditionally male-dominated culture.

DAVID SHIRK, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO: I think that Mexico is ready for this. We've seen, in the last several years, major efforts by Mexico to increase female representation in legislative bodies.

We have numerous mayors, hundreds of mayors, I think, of female mayors, legislative officials.

So Mexico's probably better prepared for this than the United States.

DEAN: Oh, wow.

And there are more than 20,000 positions to fill in these elections. And there are conflicting reports on how many candidates have been murdered. But up to 38 have been reported killed.

Help us understand what's going on here, the extent of cartels' influence there on the election. What are we seeing unfold?

SHIRK: Well, I think it's really hard for the average U.S. citizen to comprehend. I mean, if we had an equivalent number of mayors, say 100, 150 mayors being killed every year in the United States, it would be widely seen as a Democratic crisis here in the United States.

And I think it's a Democratic crisis for Mexico. It is not all drug- related violence. But it is certainly -- there are a number of other cases of people being -- the reason deals and so forth.

But the preponderance of violence that we're seeing is related in some way to organized crime groups who are trying to get influence over these individuals.

And not only have we seen close to 40 mayors, mayoral candidates assassinated, we've seen dozens of other people assassinated in different local government positions.

[16:35:06]

But also hundreds who simply said, I'm not going to run. They've declined to run for office even after being nominated because they're afraid of being threatened or killed by organized crime groups trying to seek influence in government.

DEAN: Yes, it certainly seems like, based on what you're saying, there is a chilling effect to a certain degree for candidates and people who would like to take part in the government.

Is this -- is this something that you think the Mexican people just have to accept as part of what is going on right now or, what, does the government get involved at some point?

SHIRK: Well, it's completely unacceptable, obviously. And the Mexican public is frustrated.

But there aren't easy answers to this problem. The problem of corruption is so (INAUDIBLE) Mexican, a very little faith or confidence in their government officials, certainly in law enforcement.

And the reality is that the -- the effort to deal with this problem of organized crime in Mexico is not something that I think that Mexico can do on its own.

So the United States has worked very hard, I think, in the last 10 to 15 years to try to be a good partner to Mexico, to recognize our shared responsibility, to assist Mexico in dealing with organized crime.

The reality is that the current administration of Mexico's Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has distanced himself from the United States and from those efforts to try to work together.

And it's not clear whether Claudia Sheinbaum is going to be any more open, the likely the leading candidate, his handpicked successor, is going to be any more amenable to working with the United States to address these issues.

DEAN: All right. David Shirk, thank you so much for giving us some more context around all this. We really appreciate it.

SHIRK: My pleasure, thanks for having me.

DEAN: Yes.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:41:43]

DEAN: NASA officials just speaking about what's next after they scrubbed the first launch of the Boeing Starliner just three minutes before liftoff. The two astronauts aboard left their capsule and are now back at crew quarters.

NASA says there is a window possible for tomorrow, but it has not yet made it official.

CNN Space and Defense Correspondent Kristin Fisher is joining us now from the Kennedy Space Center.

Kristen, you were watching and waiting as this all unfolded, What happened?

KRISTEN FISHER, CNN SPACE & DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, it got so close, just three minutes and 50 seconds before lifting off. But in the end, the scrub was not caused by Boeing.

And Boeing, it's important to remember, is only responsible for the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, just the little capsule that the astronaut sit on, on top. There was no issues with that today.

Nor were there any issues with the Atlas 5 rocket itself, which is built and operated by the United Launch Alliance, a different company.

So no issue with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. No issue with the rocket itself. The hardware performed just fine today.

The issue, Jessica, frustratingly, was with the computers on the ground that essentially tell the rocket when to lift off and lunch, give it that final go for launch. Once it enters what's known as terminal count, those final few minutes before lifting off.

And what's even more frustrating is exactly what triggered that. So it's a little tough technical, but bear with me, Jessica.

At the base of the launchpad, there's a little shed-like structure. Inside are three big computers. In order for this rocket to lift off all, three computers have to give it the go for launch. It's called Triple Redundancy.

Two of those computers gave the go for launch. The third computer, there was just an issue with it. It was just a little bit slow.

And I'm going to let Tory Bruno, the head of the United Launch Alliance, explain and give his explanation for -- for what exactly happened there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TORY BRUNO, PRESIDENT & CEO, UNITED LAUNCH ALLIANCE: Two came up normally. The third one came up, but it was slow to come up.

That trip to red line that created an automatic hold. Because although the health system did not note that it came up anomalously it took longer and something is not correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: So essentially, though, that faulty or slow computer triggered an automatic hold. And theoretically, the rocket could have gone on to launch.

But because you're dealing with an instantaneous launch window, meaning you have to launch at this precise minute, at a precise second because they're trying to sync up with the International Space Station, that automatic hold was an immediate scrub.

And so now, Jessica, they're trying to figure out how quickly they can fix this and if they can turn around and launch tomorrow.

So these United Launch Alliance --n United Launch Alliance engineers are going to be going to the launchpad in about three to four hours, as soon as they drain the rocket of all that flammable propellant, and they're going to try to see if they can fix it fast.

If it's something as simple as simple as swapping out a card, and they do have these replacement cards on the ready, then they could try to recycle this rocket and get it ready for noon lift off on Sunday.

[16:45:05]

But if it's something more involved, you're looking at something like June 5th or June 6th, sometime in the middle of next week before they can try again.

But, Jessica, it was -- I can tell you what it was like here. I mean, everybody was so excited. We all thought it was going to launch. And if you think it's exciting for us here, just imagine what it's like for NASA astronauts.

Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams, the commander and pilot, who were inside the capsule, thinking they are just less than four minutes away from lifting off. The commander really giving this really rousing speech.

Now he's going to have to go back to quarantine and get ready to perhaps give it again tomorrow.

DEAN: Oh, yes. That's a letdown.

All right, Kristen Fisher, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Large parts of the Atlanta metro area are going on more than 24 hours without running water after a pair of very big mains broke. The mayor says those repairs could take even longer than they initially hoped.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:50:42]

DEAN: Today is the official start of the 2024 hurricane season. Forecasters are saying they expect it to be one of the worst on record thanks to warming ocean temperatures and La Nina.

CNN Meteorologist Elisa Raffa is in the Weather Center with more on this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELISA RAFFA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We're expecting a very active season ahead. Multiple outlets calling for incredibly active number of storms.

NOAA actually issuing its most active preseason forecast in its history, calling for up to 25 named storms. The average would be closer to 14. Up to 13 of them could be hurricanes. Again, way above the average of seven.

Look at how confident we are that this is going to be an above-normal active season, 85 percent confident. There's only a 5 percent chance that it will be a below normal season. So again, almost, virtually impossible.

One of the big reasons is we have La Nina circulation setting up. That's a cool-ocean circulation that sets up in the Pacific. Well, it could have a dance with the path to storminess of our jet stream. It could shift it to the north.

That could clear a path of decreasing wind shear. Wind shear is a change in wind speed and height upstairs in the atmosphere. Hurricanes hate that. So without that wind shear, that can open up a path for more storms to develop.

On top of this, we also have incredibly warm ocean temperatures. Even so far this season, we've already had ocean temperatures more typical for August than May or early June.

Warm ocean temperatures fuel hurricanes with the fuel that they need. And that is the climate factor. Climate change is making our oceans warmer. Warmer water means more fuel for hurricanes.

It also can make them heavier, juicing them up with even more fuel. Sea level rise makes our storm surge higher and sends that water farther inland.

So all of this leads to more expensive storms. Look at the costs. The tropical cyclones since 1980 across the U.S., how many storms we've had that of cost us more than a billion dollars.

Also notice how far inland this gets. With the heavier rain trends and the higher storm surge, more of these impacts make it farther inland, all of this means increasing insurance costs for you at home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

#E: All right, Elisa Raffa, thank you.

And happening now, much of Atlanta is without usable water after two major water main breaks. Crews say they're making progress on repairs, but it's not known when work will be completed.

The breaks have forced businesses and popular attractions, including one of the largest aquariums in the world, to close for a second day in a row.

CNN's Rafael Romo is live in Atlanta.

We see the water is still pouring out behind you, Rafael. What's the latest?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it still happening, Jessica. And people in this neighborhood are telling us that this water main broke behind me. It broke last night and it has been shooting water as powerfully as you see behind me ever since.

The pressure is very powerful and it is also very loud, not to mention the amount of water being wasted. Just a few moments ago, we witnessed when they brought the first piece of machinery here, a concrete breaker. I don't know if you can see it behind the water.

But in any case, we're hearing from very frustrated people, including a man here in the midtown neighborhood, who told us him and his wife have been without water for about 36 waters.

Now, this is how he explained the situation he is currently in. A situation that mirrors what many people in Atlanta are going through right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It comes kind of infrequently. We've managed to take a shower in the ones this morning, fortunately. But, yes, we've had no drinking water or we've had no cooking, no washing facilities. Yes, it's just crazy. Can't flush the toilets, can't have a shower, can't boil water to cook with. It's -- yes, it's crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Water Department officials explained earlier that they're doing everything they can. And the reason why the repairs are taking longer than expected has to do with the fact that they have to stabilize water pressure in the affected areas before they can begin the process of repairing the lines.

And, Jessica, a couple of hours ago, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, apologized, saying that teams are working nonstop to repair the water main breaks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[16:55:01]

MAYOR ANDRE DICKENS (D-ATLANTA) We take this matter very, very seriously and our whole team takes it very seriously as you see as working on this. We apologize profusely for this disruption to life in the city of Atlanta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: A boil advisory is still in effect for vast portions of this.

Jessica, back to you.

DEAN: All right,, Rafael Romo, in Atlanta, thank you so much.

Next Thursday marks 80 years since the Greatest Generation stormed the shores of Normandy, freeing France and defeating Germany during Cold War II. And as that anniversary approaches, CNN spoke with several of the brave U.S. servicemembers about their experiences and what they were fighting for.

And it's all part of Jake Tapper's new documentary, "D-DAY, WHY WE STILL FIGHT.'

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: What were we fighting for?

JAMES MATTIS, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We were locked in a battle with fascism. We're fighting for our freedom. For the freedom to think as we wish, talk as we wish.

(EXPLOSION)

MARK MILLEY, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: They gave their life to preserve and protect our constitution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They big died for our democracy. That wasn't the thing they were thinking about when they ran out of the landing craft, whatever. But at the end of the day, that's what they were protecting.

(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: Jake Tapper looks at "D-DAY, WHY WE STILL FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY." It's part of this weeks "THE WHOLE STORY." It's airing tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

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