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Biden and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) Racing to Sell Their Debt Agreement to Congress; Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Suspended After Impeachment; Russia Targets Kyiv with Largest Drone Attack of Conflict. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired May 29, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: I appreciate you joining us this morning. It's an important topic, I'm glad we're addressing it. Thanks.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: You know, Erica, it's interesting. We talk about the labor shortage that clearly still exists in certain industries, like running being one of them.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. I mean, I tell you, I keep seeing the notices every year, all of the camps, all of the pools. They are in desperate need.

SOLOMON: Wow.

HILL: CNN this morning continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have a deal to raise the debt ceiling and avoid an entirely preventable economic catastrophe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Republicans are going to support the deal. It's a remarkable concern we've accomplished.

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): They're not cutting the deficit and they are not cutting spending.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I strongly urge you both chambers to pass that agreement.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ukraine's military says it's destroyed almost 70 aerial targets launched by Russia in its latest onslaught.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Ukrainians are calling this one of the largest attacks using those Iranian-made Shahed drones.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Almost all of them were shot down, almost. Russia will only face defeat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turkey's incumbent president, Erdogan, extends his tenure in power to a third decade.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is a real sense of jubilation of triumph. These are some of his most ardent supporters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was potentially his closest electoral squeak and they still couldn't defeat him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ken Paxton is calling his impeachment vote a, quote, politically motivated sham, the first attorney general in Texas to be impeached.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a case of Republicans policing Republicans in the state of Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Corruption has now been voted out, a significant step for the integrity of the state.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I started out as a fan in the crowd. Everyone kept asking me why I won this race. They look at you like you're a failure. I'm so glad to be here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Good morning, everyone, 7:00 A.M. hour, good to be with you. I'm Rahel Solomon.

HILL: And I'm Erica Hill. Nice to have you with us.

Boy, a lot happening over the weekend.

SOLOMON: I thought so. Even for a Monday. It's been busy so far. And over the weekend, a lot to discuss.

HILL: And it is, of course, Memorial Day, as we observe this day where we honor and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Live pictures for you of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

SOLOMON: It's a day that many celebrate as the unofficial start to summer, but also always important to remember that it's a day of remembrance and a very somber day as well.

President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have reached a deal to raise the debt limit. And now they're racing to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to back the plan. The House is set to vote on the deal just two days from now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Mr. President, what do you say to members of your own party who say you've made too many concessions in this deal?

BIDEN: You'll find I didn't.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I think you're going to get a majority of Republicans voting for this bill. This is a good bill for the American public. The president agreed with this bill. So, I think there is going to be a lot of Democrats that are going to vote for it too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And the House Progressive Caucus already speaking out against new work requirements in the deal for food stamp recipients.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAYAPAL: It is really unfortunate that president opened the door to this and while at the end of the day, you know, perhaps this will -- because of the exemptions, perhaps it will be okay. I can't commit to that. I really don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And the conservative House Freedom Caucus also pushing back against the deal, saying it does not cut enough spending. Some key members tweeted, no Republican capitulation and hold the line.

As for the debt ceiling, the latest warning from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen estimates that the government could run out of money to pay all of its debts on time, the so-called X date on June 5th, one week from today.

CNN Chief Correspondent Manu Raju live for us on Capitol Hill. So, Manu, for those of us just waking up on a Monday morning, we may not have been following this Saturday and Sunday, break down the deal for us.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Look, this was a hard fought negotiation, a negotiation that the White House didn't want to have to begin with. Remember, President Biden, for about three months, more than three months, just refused to sit down with Kevin McCarthy, because he demanded the debt ceiling be increased, $31.4 trillion debt ceiling be increased without any conditions, without any spending cuts, warning that trying to do so would avert a fiscal disaster here.

But Kevin McCarthy had a different approach. He demanded spending cuts, a whole slew of conditions. Ultimately, the White House was forced to negotiate and make a range of concessions. That is angering both sides of the aisle, some liberals upset, and also some conservatives upset with the deal that McCarthy cut.

Now, a little bit about the deal, two-year, the suspension of the debt limit, essentially would expire in January of 2025. That has caused some concern on the right. They believe it should have been one year for allowing them -- preventing them from fighting this again next year in an election year, also to make sure that veterans medical care is not impacted by the spending cuts that would have happened across the board on domestic programs.

[07:05:09]

There is essentially a -- for defense programs, there is not a cut for defense. But it has caused some concerns among defense hawks. They believe that they need to have more money for the Pentagon. So, expect some pushback from the right on that. But there is also -- it would expand work requirements for food stamp recipients. That has caused a lot of angst among on the left. And there is a whole host of other issues, such as cutting IRS funding. That's caused some concern for Democrats, as well as rescinding unspent COVID aid. That actually had some bipartisan support as part of this deal.

And one thing to watch that actually could generate some opposition from progressives is that it would actually expedite construction of a pipeline in West Virginia, a big priority for West Virginia Senator Joe Mansion, but something that progressives in particular were upset about.

Now, what the White House has been trying to tell Democrats, and they did last night and all the two briefings with the House and Senate Democrats, was they could have been a lot worse. One of the things that did not make it in this bill was to impose new work requirements for recipients of the Medicaid health insurance program. Of course, it is a low income health care program. Republicans have pushed for new work requirements for those recipients. That did not get in the bill.

They also argued a whole host of other issues, such as the president's signature Inflation Reduction Act was not cut as Republicans had pushed for, which is what they're trying to convince with Democrats. This is the best we can get even as a lot of folks on the right saying those cuts should have been imposed and McCarthy should have demanded more and should not have given the president the debt limit suspension as it's in this current bill, causing a lot of angst on both wings of the party as they try to get this to Congress.

SOLOMON: A lot of angst, a lot of unpredictability. Manu Raju, thank you. We shall see.

HILL: Yes, we will. Let's bring in now CNN Economics Commentator and Washington Post Opinion Columnist Catherine Rampell and former Democratic Congressman from New York Max Rose, he's also, of course, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. He received a Purple Heart among other honors. Nice to see you both this morning.

I'm going to start with you. When we look at what is happening here, and I think as Manu laid out for us, we know there is a lot of skepticism. There's a lot of angst on both sides of the aisle here. But we press people a lot and we say I need a yes or no answer. As you know all too well, and Congresswoman Jayapal actually gave Jake Tapper a one-word answer, when he said, does the president basically need to be worried here, and she said, yes, you should be worried about progressives. If the White House messaging is, hey, it could have been worse, is that really enough to convince progressives?

FMR. REP. MAX ROSE (D-NY): It will be enough for it to pass. It will not be enough to convince progressives. So, you have this incredibly fascinating dynamic right now, where Kevin McCarthy and Joe Biden and potentially also the leader of the Democratic caucus, Hakeem Jeffries, will all be working in tandem together to pass this legislation, of course, to avoid economic catastrophe, but also because it is in their political best interest. Now with this bill, the administration has certainly cemented the fact that it is absolutely, resolutely committed to bipartisanship and normalcy. And in the process, I actually think, that they have boxed the Republican Party into this really awful corner, where by now the Republican Party has to advocate for increased spending, of course, because the debt ceiling will be raised trillions of dollars and for increased social service spending now within expansion of SNAP benefits for veterans as well as the homeless.

On the other hand, the Republican Party can say the Democratic Party did not get any priorities in there, and that, yes, is true as well. So, it might be the sign of a great negotiation that nobody is happy right now, but this will certainly pass and will pass because of moderates on both sides of the aisle, and they will largely do that because they do not want to be the reason for economic calamity.

SOLOMON: Catherine, let me bring you into the conversation because there has been a lot of drama. There has been a lot of noise. And you say in a recent op-ed that there has already harm done even if we don't actually default.

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMIC COMMENTATOR: Yes. Look, I look at this deal and say how is it any different than what we would have reasonably expected to get from the usual annual appropriations process. It's really not that different given divided government. Republicans didn't get the draconian cuts that they asked for. They didn't get the Medicaid work requirements. They didn't get some of the others things that I was worried about, including basically undermining the entire regulatory state. They basically got flat spending, which, again, is what I would have expected coming out of the appropriations process.

So, the question is, fine, but what was it all for, right? We've gone through all of this drama. We have gone through economic turmoil, basically embarrassing ourselves on the world stage, Biden having to cut the Asia trip short, the G7 kind of being overshadowed by all of this, not to mention probably higher borrowing costs as a result of some market stresses.

[07:10:00]

And we ended up where we would have been had this whole brinksmanship episode never happened.

So, on the one hand, I'm glad that we, knock on wood, don't look like we're about to have financial apocalypse and that Republicans didn't get all these other things in, but like what was the point? We could have avoided all of this.

SOLOMON: Catherine, you and I have talked about in passing actually, here at CNN, your -- how you feel about IRS reform, and I'm curious what you think about the concessions it looks like the IRS reform will receive as part of this bill. I mean, do you think it will be significant?

RAMPELL: Well, they're cutting about a quarter of the funding that was appropriated to the IRS last year, which I think is actually quite a bad thing. That money has a huge return on investment, both because it means better customer services and taxpayers are happier and they're more voluntarily compliant. And it means that the IRS has the resources to go after wealthy tax cheats and corporations. So, I don't think this was a good place to cut money. In fact, it will expand deficits.

That said, they did some kind of accounting gimmicks where it doesn't look like it's materially going to affect the IRS' overhaul in the near term. It will probably be more of a problem several years from now. But, again, making it easier for rich people to cheat on their taxes doesn't seem like the thing you would do if you really cared about getting deficits under control.

HILL: Absolutely interesting, though, that will undoubtedly be put forth as a win for Republicans if they got some of that money back. How does this play to your point of, look, if everybody is unhappy, then I guess this is a good negotiation, right, because nobody comes out the winner here, but how do you sell that to constituents?

ROSE: Well, there's a few major hurdles here just in terms of selling it to legislators. First of all, Kevin McCarthy has to get over half of his own caucus to support this before it even gets to the floor, and they have not confirmed that they will do this. And that whipping process, as it's known behind the scenes, is not fact-based. This at this point will be deeply personal. The speaker wants this. The leader wants this. The -resident wants this. Get in line or else there's going to be consequences down the road that you can't take the politics out of politics.

HILL: How good is McCarthy doing that, because, typically, Republicans have done a very good job of getting their caucus to fall in line? We are seeing something a little bit different here, which certainly we saw play out when he was trying to get that gavel.

ROSE: Sure. So, he will be fine at getting, I believe, more than 50 percent, because you've already seen leaders in the moderate wing of that party. I won't call them moderate, let's just say less extreme wing of that party expressing their support for this.

With that being said, though, the Democratic Party, I think that in that whipping process that we're seeing right now, what people will be upset by, yes, is the policy, but they're going to be more upset, legislators will be more upset about two other things. One, did we get anything out of this at our own priorities, Democratic -- core Democratic priorities? They got victories. What did we get? But secondly, I think that there will be certain angst around giving Kevin McCarthy a win.

So, they're going to want to see the Republicans show momentum around this, show that they can pass this themselves or come somewhat close to it before Democrats start raising their hands and saying that they'll go about doing this.

And, of course, last to conclude, there's going to be folks that want to turn this into a Christmas tree as well. I certainly wouldn't rule out some people thinking about amendments. How can I get my little appropriation assorted with that? You'll see a lot of that over the coming days.

HILL: It would have been Congress if that didn't happen, right, as you know all too well.

SOLOMON: Thank you. And thank you for your service.

ROSE: That's very kind of you. Thank you.

HILL: Happening right now, you are looking at new video. We're going to show this into you here. So, this is new video from Davenport, Iowa. We told you last year about rescue efforts that are underway. Search teams there are looking for possible missing residents this morning after part of this historic apartment building collapsed in that downtown area of Davenport overnight. At least seven people have been rescued, many others injured. The mayor at this point says that several people do remain missing and unaccounted for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MICHAEL CARLSTEN, DAVENPORT FIRE DEPARTMENT: Some of our concerns at this time is still the structural stability of the building and trying to locate unaccounted for individuals. Crews have just started to enter the building again to do a secondary search and also start with the rescue of the debris pile that we have at the bottom of the building. We will continue to do that until this operation is completed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So there is no word yet as to what caused that building to collapse. We are standing by there. There is a press conference scheduled for next hour.

SOLOMON: Now in Texas, where the attorney general of Texas is firing back after state lawmakers voted to impeach him. Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton is calling the unprecedented move, quote, politically motivated sham. The GOP-led House of Representatives voted to impeach Paxton on Saturday after an investigation found that he participated in a pattern of corruption. But he insists he has done nothing wrong.

[07:15:01]

CNN's Ed Lavandera is live in Dallas this morning. So, Ed, Paxton is temporarily suspended from his duties. Bring us up to speed. What happens here?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was a stunning rebuke of this attorney general that has been elected by voters here in this state three times. He was just re-elected last year. And this really all stems from many allegations and controversies that have been swirling around him from seven years. But, clearly, lawmakers here in the last few months in Texas have had enough. That vote came to 121 to 23, so a huge number of Republicans voting to impeach Ken Paxton. 20 articles of impeachment in all, which include charges of bribery, conspiracy, abuse of power, unfit for office, so really stunning charges here that he now faces in the Texas Senate side.

But Ken Paxton says that these charges are politically motivated from the beginning by the speaker of the Texas House, Phelan's coalition of Democrats and liberal Republicans is now in lockstep with the Biden administration, the abortion industry, anti-gun zealots, and woke corporations to sabotage my work as attorney general.

So, clearly, Paxton here kind of covering himself in the work that he's been doing of going against the Biden administration to try to win political capital here in this state. But Democrats and those who voted for this impeachment say they've had enough of this attorney general.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STATE REP. ANN JOHNSON (D-TX): Either this is going to be the beginning of the end of his criminal reign, or God help us with the harms that will come to all Texans if he is allowed to stay the top cop on the take.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And remember, these articles of impeachment were brought by Republicans on the Texas House side. Republicans control virtually every lever of government here in this state. So, it really is a stunning development.

SOLOMON: Stunning and important to point out there, as you did, Ed. So, what happens next for Paxton?

LAVANDERA: Well, he has been temporarily removed from office and now they pair for the trial on the Texas Senate side. And this is where it becomes a little bit more interesting. There are 31 state senators here in the state. Paxton's own wife is a state senator here in this state. There are 12 Democrats on the Senate side. So, there would need to be nine Republicans, depending on what Angela Paxton does, to convict Ken Paxton. So, we'll have to wait and see how this happens. There's no clear date on exactly when this trial is going to take place, though.

SOLOMON: A lot to watch happening in the state of Texas. Ed Lavandera, thank you.

And coming up, Russia launching its largest drone attack yet on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.

HILL: Here at home, it has been a violent and bloody Memorial Day weekend in the city of Chicago. More than 35 people shot, at least nine of them killed, multiple shootings across the city. We're going to take you there live for the very latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

HILL: So, that sound and in there you can see as it lights up those images of Ukrainian forces repelling an intense barrage of Russian drone attacks. Ukraine's military says its forces shot down nearly 70 drones that were targeting Kyiv. It's been called Russia's largest attack to date on the capital city, using Iranian-made drones, notably. And it comes as CNN teams on the ground heard several explosions in Kyiv overnight.

Now, these Russian attacks also come as Ukraine nears the launch of this long awaited counteroffensive we've been talking about. One of Ukraine's top generals recently posted this highly produced video. It shows Ukrainian troops preparing for battle and ends with troops chanting a message that calls for victory for a decisive offensive.

Joining us now with more, retired U.S. Army Major Mike Lyons. Good to see you, as always. So, when we talk about this, what would this potential counteroffensive at this point, what would it look like?

MAJOR MIKE LYONS (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Yes. Just see it, look at the map. You can see Russian forces in two separate locations. I believe any counteroffensive is going to cut these Russian forces in half here and threaten Crimea. I think that is the issue here for the Ukrainian forces. But they're not going to do that until they have the combined arms, the shock effect, the tanks, helicopters, Bradley Fighting vehicles, more men, more equipment.

Russia still has had setbacks, lost a lot of men, low morale, but they're still Russia. They could go on the active defense and they still are a very formidable opponent.

SOLOMON: They certainly have time on their side. They can wait it out a bit longer. In terms of the counteroffensive and weather, weather plays a critical role in when we start to see that offensive. Explain to us how weather plays into all of this.

LYONS: Yes. So, weather and terrain, it's part of a commander's assessment with regard to the tactical situation on the ground. On a ground war, though, not like D-Day, for example, when weather really impacted the seas and the like, I think what you're going to see here, the soil where there's concern that, for example, satellite images show that the soil is hardening up, it's a little better. That will provide, again, those tanks, a little more mobility on the ground there.

The Ukraine military has the advantage. It's a home. They know the terrain, they know where the bridges are, they know where things are going. But I think it's still a small effect. I think the combat forces are really more important.

SOLOMON: I see.

HILL: So, give us a sense of timing. I feel that we've been talking about this for a long time, this potential counteroffensive. Are we approaching the right moment?

LYONS: Yes, you go back to that and you have to say that, again, they're not going to put their troops in a situation where they're going to fail. They need to succeed. They do pick the time. They pick the place and location.

I'm not sure they have enough troops ready to go. We haven't seen, for example, reports of massing of equipment in the areas in the south. We hear a lot of reports about what's going on in this part here in Bakhmut, in the west.

But, again, from my perspective, from a military perspective, I think this is where the counteroffensive takes place and we don't have that equipment there yet.

[07:25:05]

It's not ready to go.

SOLOMON: Any sense of when it might be? Because, I mean, the spring offensive, I think, strategically, is really important for Ukraine to be able to show that they can do this.

LYONS: Well, I think, let's say, let's give it another 90 days and assess the situation there. You still have these crews, for example, some of the weapon systems, for example, the tanks, the Leopard, the Abrams, these are the things that are going to make a difference. These are the shock effects that will make a difference on the ground. And they're training troops in Grafenwoehr. They have troops in the United States still. The Patriot missiles have been effective. The way Ukraine wins is a combined armed fight and synchronizing all these troops. That takes time.

HILL: On this Memorial Day, thank you, as always, for your service, it's also a special moment for you as we remember the sacrifices that were made. Also, your son, we want to point out, was just promoted.

LYONS: Yes.

HILL: He's on board the USS Cole. Tell us a little bit more about him and what he's doing.

LYONS: Sure. The USS Cole, as talk about, that ship was attacked in October of 2000, really, the beginning of the global war on terror. We got to see it here in Fleet Week. It drove past the world, the Freedom Tower there as well. USS Cole celebrates Memorial Day every day. There are 17 stars that exist on their side there where the attack took place. There's a soldier that gets -- a sailor gets down every day and makes sure that those stars are polished. They don't walk on those things.

It just shows, again, the level of sacrifice. And from my perspective as a veteran, and I just ask folks for today, as a day of remembrance, just be reflective and be worthy of the sacrifice that's been made by those that came before us. So, it's something that we like to do.

SOLOMON: It's an important reminder.

HILL: Yes, to remember the reason that we have this day. Major Lyons, thank you, as always.

LYONS: Thanks.

HILL: Three people killed, five wounded in a shooting at a motorcycle rally in New Mexico. What officials believe was behind that violence.

SOLOMON: And you know the saying, like a good neighbor State Farm, is there. Well, apparently, not if you're in California. Why the insurance company is halting home insurance sales in the state.

We'll be right back.

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