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CNN This Morning

Drones Strike Moscow as Kyiv Hit Yet Again; 9 People Shot, Including 1-Year-Old, Near Florida Beach; Debt Limit Deal Faces Crucial House Rules Committee Vote; Smoke from Canada Wildfires Could Reach New York, Boston Today; Biden and Cruz Slam Uganda's New Anti- Gay Law. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired May 30, 2023 - 06:00   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR/CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: -- to add on products, bait and switch pricing, and mechanical condition.

[06:00:06]

Number two, home repairs. Shoddy and incomplete work performed by contractors without proper licensing or expertise.

Banks were in the No. 3 spot. Consumer debt and credit.

All right. Thanks for joining me this Tuesday morning. I'm Christine Romans. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Not Monday --

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: But it feels like a Monday for a lot of people, doesn't it?

HARLOW: Had the day off yesterday, so it feels like Monday. Probably, it might feel like you if you were lucky enough to have Memorial Day off. It is Tuesday morning. Good morning, everyone. We're so glad you're with us.

I'm so glad to be joined by my friend Erica Hill.

HILL: Nice to be back by your side.

HARLOW: Good long-ish weekend?

HILL: Very relaxing. It was lovely.

HARLOW: The weather here was incredible. We hope you had a good one. Let's get started with "Five Things to Know" for this Tuesday, May 30.

New this morning, drone attacks hit the heart of Russia. Two people are injured and three residential buildings this morning are damaged in Moscow after the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv withstands another attack.

HILL: The debt limit deal set to face its first hurdle today in the House Rules Committee. Speaker Kevin McCarthy says he's not worried. That's despite concerns from at least two Republican members of that committee.

Police in Hollywood Beach, Florida, say at least nine people were shot along the boardwalk, three children among the wounded. And we're told at least one suspect has been arrested.

HARLOW: Also today, Elizabeth Holmes will report to prison in Texas. The former Theranos CEO facing 11 years behind bars for fraud and conspiracy.

HILL: And the Miami Heat headed to the NBA finals, where they will face the Denver Nuggets. The Heat crushed the Celtics last night in a dominant game seven win in Boston.

CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

HARLOW: Here is where we begin, because new this morning, the Russian capital getting a first-hand sense of war after an alleged drone attack. Here you see a plume of smoke rising.

And take a look at this. You can actually see a drone flying over the city as a man points out of his window. And here, what appears to be a fragment of a downed drone.

Russian state media says two people were injured in Moscow, and three residential buildings were damaged in the attack. Russian military officials blame Ukraine for this, something of course, Ukraine denies.

HILL: The attack, though, coming just hours after yet another aerial assault on Kyiv. Ukrainian officials say one woman was killed, 13 people hurt. There have been 17 attacks on Kyiv so far just this month, ahead of that planned counteroffensive we've been talking so much about.

Officials also just releasing this body camera video of police responding to one of those attacks. It gives you a real-time look at the daily reality of war here, as officers are out there to help injured civilians.

Let's bring in now CNN's Fred Pleitgen, who's live in Eastern Ukraine for us this morning.

So first, Fred, what more are we hearing about this attack on Moscow?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Poppy.

Well, certainly, the Russians are pretty shaken by this attack that happened there on Moscow. And one of the things that they're obviously doing, as you noted, is they blamed, as they put it, the Kyiv regime, obviously blaming the Ukrainians.

Some of that footage that came out of Russia certainly seemed to be pretty dramatic, with that person pointing at that drone.

Now, the Russians say that all of the UAVs, as they put it, the drones that were sent towards Moscow, were put out of commission. They say that several were taken down using electronic countermeasures, which brought them off course, so then they crashed.

But they also said that in five cases, they needed to activate their air defenses and shoot them down with short-range air-defense systems called the Pantsir air defense system.

Nevertheless, there have been several Russian politicians who have come out and said, Look, we believe this could be our new reality. This could be the case because of the ongoing war in Ukraine, that it can also come to Moscow.

Obviously, a lot of residents in that city pretty shaken, as well. This happened in the early morning hours of today, and definitely not something the Russians have seen before as this war has been going on, guys.

HARLOW: Can you tell us more about the strikes overnight in Kyiv, Fred?

PLEITGEN: Yes. Yes, I'm actually at the scene of one of the strikes here that happened in Kyiv overnight. And I can tell you, we were actually in Kyiv. We're not in Eastern Ukraine. And the night was definitely not calm.

I mean, it was over several hours that we heard drones in the air the entire time. It's those Iranian-made Shaheed drones where you can see -- hear the engine howling the entire time.

And then you can also hear the sound of the machine-gun fires; the Ukrainians are trying to take them down.

Where we are right now, you can see substantial damage after one of these drones impacted here. You can see the cleanup is already going on.

And I want to just ask our camera man, Will Bonnet (ph). He's going to pan up right now. And you can see that it actually impacted up there in the first -- the top couple floors of that building.

Now, that is something that is absolutely significant, guys, because despite the fact that the Russians shot dozens of drones once again, or sent them at the capital, Kyiv, the Ukrainians say they managed to take most of the drones down.

[06:05:09]

Now, what you're seeing up there, the Ukrainians are saying is actually damaged from a drone that was down; and debris then hit this building and caused that explosion that you saw up there. Unfortunately, in this building, one woman was killed.

I was able to speak to Kyiv's mayor about this right here, a couple of minutes ago. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VITALI KLITSCHKO, KYIV MAYOR: Actually, May, we have a lot of attacks to our city, not just to capital of Ukraine. Also in our city, and a lot of people killed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, of course, former box champ, as well. He was on the scene here very early on. And of course, not a quiet night here at all.

And, you know, this is the third major missile and drone attack that we've had here in the city in the past, I'd say, 30 to 36 hours. Some of them with drones and cruise missiles. Some of them also with ballistic missiles.

So right now the Ukrainian capital really feeling and a lot of people here obviously showing a lot of resilience, guys.

HARLOW: Fred Pleitgen, live for us in Kyiv. Thank you very much.

HILL: Well, all of this comes as President Zelenskyy now says he's made a decision on the timing of Ukraine's counteroffensive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The commander in chief and the commanders of the operational directions reported to the staff not only the supply of ammunition, not only the training of new brigades, not only our tactics. But also the timing. This is what is most important. The timing of how we will move forward. We will. The decisions have been made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Joining us now CNN military analyst, former member of the joint chief -- of the staff of the Pentagon, retired Col. Cedric Leighton.

Colonel, always good to see you. As we listen to what we heard from President Zelenskyy in that nightly address, the fact that he says they now have the timing. Not saying what that timing is for obvious reasons. But that the timing has been decided. What does that signal to you in terms of where things stand for this counteroffensive, how quickly could it happen?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, good morning, Erica.

It really tells me that they've finalized their plans. They're moving forward in a way that is, you know, quite methodical, and they're doing it in a way that will allow them to move forces where they need to.

Now, the one thing that they don't have is strategic surprise. But they do have tactical surprise. They can move forces where they need to. The Russians, of course, are going to be watching them from an intelligence perspective, but they will be able to do some things that will keep the Russians guessing.

But there's clearly a timetable that's been set. And we should be seeing a few things, maybe not like D-Day back in World War II, but we will be seeing a few things that indicate an offensive is going forward.

HARLOW: I'm interested why Zelenskyy would have said that, that I -- you know, we have decided on a time frame. We have one. Why would he say that at all? Why would he make that pronouncement?

LEIGHTON: Poppy, I think it's -- it's messaging. I think it's also psychological. And what he's trying to do is he's trying to tell the Russian side that we are coming for you. We are going to move you out of our country.

But, on the other hand, he's still keeping them guessing, although he's made some pretty emphatic statements here. He's keeping them guessing as to the timing and the place where this is actually going to occur. And it could even be places in the sense that he could use multiple areas to mount certain types of attacks.

HILL: We have seen this litany of attacks in Kyiv, but we are also seeing attacks making it the way -- all the way to Moscow. Russian officials, as Fred Plight [SIC] -- Fred Pleitgen, excuse me, just said, saying they believe this could be their new reality.

How are you reading that this morning? How are you reading those attacks?

LEIGHTON: Yes. These are very interesting, because generally, what they're using are drones that are actually Soviet-era drones that have been modified by the Ukrainians.

So, the Ukrainians are not violating any promises that they've made to the West and to the U.S., in particular, not to use U.S. or Western- supplied weapons to attack Russia itself. But they're still doing it.

And it's not quite, you know, setting Russia ablaze, to borrow a phrase from Churchill. But what they are doing is they are actually moving forward and telling the Russian population that they are at risk of some kind of an attack.

It's not as bad or as severe as the attacks on Kyiv, obviously. But it is clearly something that puts people at risk, and it -- it's a warning.

HARLOW: One question in all of this sort of bigger picture, Colonel, is the role of China and can China be a moderating force at all? They have said as much. But there are real questions about what that would look like and where their alliance would be.

The fact that, given that, the Chinese government is refusing to sit down with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, basically saying, no, you cannot meet with your counterpart at this security forum happening this week in Singapore, reminds me of what Lloyd Austin told Kaitlan in their interview months ago after the spy balloon, right, that basically, the Chinese weren't picking up the phone.

[06:10:00] It does not seem like things have improved since then. How does that factor into what's going on in Russia and Ukraine?

LEIGHTON: Yes. That's certainly true. Things have not improved. And it seems as if China and Russia are basically in lock-step when it comes to the diplomatic aspect of this.

HARLOW: Right.

LEIGHTON: And I think what they're -- the Chinese are failing to do in this particular case is take advantage of an opportunity to play the role of mediator, or at least seem to be playing the role of mediator.

The very fact that they're not meeting with Secretary Austin is an indication that they are not really interested in being a mediator. They're more interested in supporting Putin. And that's going to limit their effectiveness with Ukraine, and it's going to limit their effectiveness with other countries in the West.

HILL: Colonel Cedric Leighton, always appreciate your insight. Thank you.

HARLOW: Thank you.

LEIGHTON: You bet.

HARLOW: This morning, new surveillance video shows the moment that people started running for their lives. This happened during a mass shooting on a crowded Florida boardwalk. Nine people were shot, including a 1-year-old baby.

Here's another look at the chaos. Police say they've detained one person. They're still searching for an additional suspect.

Carlos Suarez joins us live in Hollywood, Florida. I mean, a beach boardwalk, nine people, a 1-year-old shot. What do we know about the victims at this time?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, Hollywood police have not released the names of these victims.

Authorities out here said that an argument between two groups of people led to that shooting.

The boardwalk out here is lined with hotel restaurants and bars. It's where thousands of folks had gathered to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday. And it's when that shooting took place, Sunday after -- Monday afternoon, rather.

Cameras out here captured the crowds of folks running for safety after they heard the shooting take place. Some videos that were posted on social media showed some of the injured being treated on the beach.

Now, Hollywood police say that they had a number of officers in the area in anticipation of the holiday crowds, and so they were able to get a lot of these injured folks to a hospital in relatively short order.

The chief of police here in the city -- in the city of Hollywood talked about exactly some of his feelings a few hours after the shooting. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF CHRIS O'BRIEN, HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA POLICE: It's unfortunate when we have law-abiding citizens come to our beach to enjoy the day, that gets disrupted by a group of criminals who engage in this type of violent activity. These that were involved in the incident today will be held accountable for their actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUAREZ: All right, Poppy. So nine people in all were shot. Four of them minors, including that 1-year-old baby. We're told all of the people that were shot are expected to be OK and that that 1-year-old baby is in stable condition.

HARLOW: Thank goodness but still terrifying. Carlos, thanks for the reporting very much.

Well, the debt limit deal set to face its first major test in -- test in Congress today. Will it even make it to the House floor? That's a question, if you can believe it. We'll have live coverage from Capitol Hill and the White House.

HILL: Plus, smoke from a massive wild fire in Canada could spread all the way to Boston and New York today. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is going to break down what that could mean for the air quality where you live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:16:56]

HARLOW: OK. So there is a deal, a framework, a deal in the works. There's actually legislative text to the debt limit deal, and it will face its first major hurdle today.

The House Rules Committee set to hold a make-or-break vote that could potentially kill this before it even reaches the floor.

Some of the loudest Republican opponents of this deal sit on the Rules Committee. Congressman Ralph Northam and also Chip Roy, they've been very vocal about this.

Here are -- these are the same hardliners that Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed to put on the powerful Rules Committee so that he could win the Speakership back in January.

This is interesting. Here's what Congressman Roy told FOX News about the meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): I'm going to be making that loud and clear to my Republican colleagues that this is not a deal that we should be taking.

The whole point of the Rules Committee was to say that we are going to have a power sharing where we have a representation of the entire conference.

And I'm not thrilled with this bill right now. So I'm not going into the Rules Committee with a very positive view towards this bill. Kevin is a friend. I think the Republican Party is best when we're unified, but not for the sake of unity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So as Speaker McCarthy scrambles to prevent a mutiny, President Biden is trying to shore up enough Democrats to support the bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know I never say I'm confident what the Congress is going to do. But I feel very good about it. There is no reason why it shouldn't get done by the 5th. I'm confident that we'll get a vote in both houses. And we'll see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: We'll see. We have team coverage. Congressional correspondent Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill. Let's start with Arlette Saenz at the White House.

Arlette, I mean, he says, We'll see, because progressive Democrats, many of them are not happy. And I think it was really telling that Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal told Jake on Sunday, yes, Biden does have to worry about progressives.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Poppy. And President Biden there said he feels very good about final passage, but he also acknowledged to reporters that he doesn't know if he can get progressives on board with this agreement.

This all comes as there's a very real, palpable frustration from progressives in the Democratic Party over the toughening of work requirements for some recipients of Food Stamps.

Now, what White House officials have been arguing to progressives and Democrats behind the scenes is that they need to focus on what was not included in this bill. The fact that they were able to keep out even tougher work requirements on other social safety net programs. The fact that they were able to preserve Democratic priorities, like the Inflation Reduction Act. Those are all arguments as they're trying to get Democrats to support this agreement.

Now, behind the scenes, both senior staff and President Biden himself had been working the phones to Democratic lawmakers as they're trying to get this legislation over the finish line.

And even some progressives are saying they're not yet ready to support this agreement, the White House did get a boost yesterday when this coalition, the new Democratic Coalition, the leaders of that group said that they will endorse this agreement.

That group comprises about 100 Democrats, which will be key as they are trying to get this legislation over the finish line, with that House vote expected tomorrow.

HILL: Lauren, when it comes to this House Rules Committee, the meeting that we're all waiting for later today, there is the potential to stop this bill in its tracks.

[06:20:00]

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, one thing to keep an eye on this morning is the comments from Chip Roy and Ralph Norman, who are two of the conservatives who sit on the House Rules Committee.

Like you mentioned, they were placed there by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as part of the concessions in the race to get McCarthy that gavel. They wanted to have equal representation on that committee of not just allies of the Speaker, who were always going to vote for bills in the Rules Committee, but also some conservative hardliners.

Now, all eyes are going to be on Thomas Massie. He is another conservative who was placed on that committee. He has not said yet whether or not he would support this legislation moving through the Rules Committee.

But the expectation typically is that the Republican Party, the Republican members or the majority party in that committee, are the ones who get it out of the Rules Committee and then put it on the House floor.

If it does get to the House floor tomorrow, the expectation is that Republicans are going to have a strong vote. I'm told by multiple sources that they are working to lock down about 150 or more Republican votes.

Of course, the expectation being that this vote was always going to be a coalition of moderates in the Republican and Democratic Party, with the expectation that they could lose those on the far right and the far left -- Erica and Poppy.

HARLOW: But Lauren, what Chip Roy is essentially saying here and what he said yesterday is, essentially, there was a handshake agreement, Speaker McCarthy, to get my vote to become Speaker that all nine of us had to unanimously agree on legislation before it goes to the floor. And there's a lot of dispute about whether that was actually the agreement.

But if that's the hangup, it's not just going to be a problem for this legislation. It's going to be a problem for every bill. FOX: Well, and the concern, right, is that Democrats could always

support the rule. That typically doesn't happen. It's not the minority's job typically to get a bill out of the House Rules Committee, but the expectation is that, typically, Republicans would do the heavy lifting here.

Of course, again, Thomas Massie is going to be a key vote here.

And I should note there were a number of Republicans we asked about, you know, Chip Roy's claims yesterday -- Dusty Johnson --

HARLOW: Right.

FOX: -- Stephanie Vile (ph) -- both saying that they had no idea that that was a promise. And if it was a promise that was made, it was not shared more broadly with the Republican conference -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Thank you, Lauren.

Thanks, Arlette. Appreciate it.

HILL: It is being called one of the strictest anti-LGBTQ laws in the world. How Washington has now responded to new legislation out of Uganda.

And this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(WAVES CRASHING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: New video shows a cruise ship being rocked by a storm. This happened over the weekend. The rough waters delayed the ship's return to port in Charleston, South Carolina. And the departure of the next voyage. And people on that ship say its interior was water logged, filled with debris for days.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:22:00]

HILL: Smoke from devastating wild fires in Canada could blanket New York and Boston today. And forecasters are warning this smoke could get so heavy that the air quality could not only drop, but you'll likely be able to smell the smoke if you're in the area.

The fires have forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes in Nova Scotia. Look at this dash cam video, which shows a raging wild fire there. That's a car driving down a highway, flames and smoke rising there, as you can see. Scary stuff from both sides of the road.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is with us now. So Derek, give us a sense. When could folks in the Northeast start to see this smoke make its way down? DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I think we've got another

couple of hours before we start to experience the thickest of the smoke.

And good morning to you, Erica. Good morning, New York City.

Your hazy skies with this kind of hue of orange and read brought to us by our Northerly neighbors in Nova Scotia. You saw the wild fire smoke that kind of inhibited the driving conditions just outside of Halifax area.

And you've just got to follow the wind to see where the smoke is coming from. So you can trace it back all the way to the fires that are taking place just outside of Halifax.

And that is going to drift into places like New York, Boston, Philadelphia. And this is different than the smoky sunrises and sunsets that we've seen over the past couple of weeks. That was smoke from the upper levels of the atmosphere from wild fires in Alberta. So that's the Western side of Canada.

This is different. Just sheerly because the proximity of these wild fires in Halifax just to our North and the wind direction. So it's going to actually draw in some of that smoke into the lower levels of the atmosphere and to almost the surface.

So just as Erica pointed out, the potential for you to actually taste it, almost smell it as you step outside today is a real possibility in New York and Boston.

Air quality there starting to go downhill as the smoke starts to settle in -- Erica.

HILL: I guess that means I shouldn't --

VAN DAM: True story.

HILL: Shouldn't go outside for a run later, huh?

VAN DAM: Yes. I would put that off until tomorrow.

HILL: All right. Derek, thank you.

HARLOW: Good excuse.

All right. President Biden is threatening sanctions in Uganda after the president of Uganda signed one of the strictest anti-LGBTQ laws in the world.

President Biden called the measure shameful and demanded its immediate repeal. Republican Senator Ted Cruz joined the president, slamming the new law, calling it horrific and wrong.

Our David McKenzie joins us live from Johannesburg with more.

David, good morning. You've been following this for a long time. It's been making headlines. But now it is officially law.

And some of the provisions in it also criminalize sex education completely for the gay community? They also call for rehabilitation or conversion therapy, as many people call it here in the United States. This is broad. Where does this go?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, good morning.

It is very broad and very dangerous for the LGBTQ community, say human rights lawyer.

I've been speaking to people who are part of that community in East Africa. They say they are afraid. They're worried, because this is a very vaguely-worded bill but has very severe punishments, including years in prison for promoting homosexuality. And I'm using the term in that bill.

It also says that you can't have sex education for those who --