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CNN This Morning
Debt Limit Deal Heads for House Vote; Ukraine Braces for Russian Revenge after Blame for Moscow Attack; DeSantis Slams Rival Trump on Trail in Iowa; Trial Opens with 911 Calls from Tree of Life Mass Shooting; Sackler Family Granted Immunity Against Lawsuits in Settlement. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired May 31, 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: Here's No. 2.
[06:00:02]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are things around here that walk and talk just like us, until they walk up to you and rip your guts out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Eww. That's the horror series "From."
And No. 3.
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ROSE BYRNE, ACTRESS: All I want is for you to end up happy, you idiot!
SETH ROGEN, ACTOR: I am happy. I've never been happier in my life.
(GLASS BREAKING)
ROGEN: Send me the invoice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: "Platonic," with Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne.
All right. Thanks for joining me. I'm Christine Romans. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. It is Wednesday. We are so glad you're with us. Erica is here again --
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
HARLOW: -- as I said, looking like a ray of sunshine. In my favorite shirt, as she knows.
How are you doing? HILL: Good. Nice to be here this morning.
HARLOW: Nice to see you, too. We have a lot of news to get to. A lot happened overnight. So let's get started with "Five Things to Know" on this Wednesday, May 31.
There may be a deal. We are not quite there yet, with a final House vote expected today. The drama now is not between the two parties, but instead, within the Republican Party.
HILL: The finger-pointing intensifies as Russia blames Ukraine for a drone attack on Moscow on the heels of a deadly raid on Kyiv. President Zelenskyy, meantime, setting a date for that long-awaited counteroffensive.
HARLOW: Also, Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis in Iowa. He uses his first official campaign stop to take on rival Donald Trump and paint a pretty grim picture of the country.
HILL: A historic ruling in big pharma. One family set to pay out billions of dollars to help fight America's opioid epidemic in exchange for immunity from future civil lawsuits.
And China claiming success in its historic cosmic mission. What this means for the U.S. and the global race to conquer space.
CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
HARLOW: Deal or no deal? There's a deal. Do they have a vote?
HILL: Yes.
HARLOW: That's the question. It's a huge make-or-break day on Capitol Hill for the debt limit deal. The House is set to vote on this bill as Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces a growing revolt by his own party, by Republicans.
The deal narrowly cleared its first major hurdle last night. By the slimmest margin possible, the powerful House Rules Committee did vote to advance the bill to the floor.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Norman.
REP. RALPH NORMAN (R-SC): No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Norman, no.
Mr. Roy.
REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Roy, no.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARLOW: Those two Republicans on the committee tried, but failed, to block it. They are vowing to keep fighting to try to kill this deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROY: Because Joe Biden was in the -- in a box. He was up against the ropes. And we should have held him there and gotten more for the American people than a spending freeze for $4 trillion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: So time is quickly running out for Congress to pass this deal and prevent a potentially disastrous default that could crash the economy.
Speaker McCarthy is walking a tight rope right now. He's trying to rally support for the bill while facing a looming threat that his job from far-right Republicans, well, his job could be on the line, because they're very upset about the deal.
We have team coverage. Let's begin in Washington. Our Arlette Saenz is at the White House. Our congressional correspondent, Lauren Fox, is on Capitol Hill.
Lauren, good morning to you.
McCarthy had a closed-door meeting with House Republicans last night. Given the concessions he made to become speaker, there are real questions about how mad some of these Republicans are and what it could also mean, not only for the deal but for McCarthy's future as Speaker.
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Nothing like crunch time, Poppy. We expected this vote on the debt ceiling is going to happen tonight around 8:30 p.m. But in the meantime, the operation to whip the votes for this deal, to make sure that you don't lose too many on the right flank of your conference, that is already under way.
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REP. STEVE SCALISE (R-LA): I think you're going to continue to see that vote grow. That's what happens with any major bill.
FOX (voice-over): Congressional leadership working to lock in enough votes to pass a bill to raise the debt ceiling negotiated by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden.
REP. ELISE STEFANIK (R-NY): Members from all across the conference shared their support for this important bill, and they shared their support for Speaker McCarthy's strong and effective leadership.
FOX (voice-over): The bill narrowly made it out of the Rules Committee Tuesday night, with a 7-6 vote.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ayes have it.
FOX (voice-over): With two Republicans from the far-right Freedom Caucus voting against the advancement.
ROY: You're out there watching this. Every one of my colleagues, be very clear. Not one Republican should vote for this deal. It is a bad deal.
FOX (voice-over): Republican Representative Dan Bishop says he's lost confidence in McCarthy over his handling of the bill's negotiation and is threatening a vote of no confidence.
REP. DAN BISHOP (R-NC): It seems inescapable to me, given what has occurred, and the way he was the steward of Republican unity, and he blew it to smithereens.
[06:05:04]
FOX (voice-over): Many congressional Democrats also remain undecided.
REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): I'm still undecided.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
DINGELL: I mean, I'm angry that we are being held hostage.
REP. JAMAAL BOWMAN (D-NY): Very disappointed. You know, very disappointed. You know, the Manchin pipeline, work requirements. I'm undecided. Still considering.
FOX (voice-over): Another factor that could dissuade some members is the Congressional Budget Office's score for the bill. The CBO says the bill will reduce budget deficits by $1.5 trillion over the next ten years.
But new Food Stamps provisions would increase enrollment and increase spending for that program by more than $2 billion during that period.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The simple answer is the CBO got it wrong.
FOX (voice-over): The Rules Committee was the first hurdle in a long process to get this bill through both chambers of Congress, with just five days before the Treasury Department says the nation defaults on its debt.
Republican Senate Whip John Thune believes at least nine Republicans will vote yes, which if Democrats remain unified, would get the bill the 60-vote threshold it needs in the Senate.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): I hope the House moves quickly. And I'll make sure the Senate moves quickly the moment this bipartisan bill is sent to us.
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FOX (on camera): And on the Democratic side, they are going to hold a House caucus meeting this morning with White House officials. The hope from leadership: that they are going to be able to lock in the votes on their side, as well. But a couple things to watch today on the House floor. First, the vote
on the rule. That will come first to the House floor. Traditionally, Republicans are the ones who get that across the finish line. They may need some Democratic votes, though, today, given some of the tough language you are hearing from members of the House Freedom Caucus and with that narrow majority.
The other thing to keep an eye on: whether or not conservatives continue to threaten Kevin McCarthy's Speakership for his part in cutting this deal -- Poppy and Erica.
HARLOW: Yes. Only takes one. Lauren Fox, thank you.
HILL: The debt limit deal also needs votes from Democrats, of course, to pass. The White House doing its part to get some of those skeptical lawmakers onboard. Arlette Saenz is live at the White House this morning.
So, White House officials set to huddle with lawmakers today. There has been consistent communication here, it sounds like, since this deal was announced. What more are we expecting?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, President Biden is dispatching some of his top White House officials to huddle with House Democrats today as they're making their final pitch to those lawmakers heading into tonight's vote.
Included in that meeting will be the OMB director, Shalanda well [SIC] -- Young, as well as Steve Ricchetti, one of the president's long-time advisors, who helped negotiate this agreement.
And what we've seen from the White House over the past few days is really this drum beat of communication. Making these one-on-one calls to Democratic lawmakers. The White House saying that they've called about over 100 members of Congress as this agreement came together over the weekend.
But heading into tonight's vote, White House officials are aware they're not going to get every single Democrat onboard with this agreement. They just need enough Democrats onboard.
Now the White House has not said how many Democrats they do believe will ultimately vote for this bill. But the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, has said that he is taking Republicans at their word of being able to put up 150 Republican votes.
If you do the math, that would then roughly add to about 70 Democrats that they would need to get this bill across the finish line.
Now, you've heard this frustration from progressives and other Democrats in the party, not just with work requirements for Food Stamps but also the permitting reform for energy projects.
The president himself has said that he's not sure if he can get all progressives onboard with this proposal. But one thing that officials in their pitch to lawmakers had been
trying to stress is that this bill prevented many of the Republican priorities that they passed in that legislation previously, they prevented that from making it into the bill.
So lawmakers need to look at this. Need to look at the need to avert a default for the first time in U.S. history. And they are hoping that they will be able to get enough Democrats onboard. Of course, throughout this process, they have stressed that this will need to be a bipartisan deal. And so they're hoping to get that across the finish line tonight in the House.
HILL: And we will be watching and waiting for that final answer. Arlette, appreciate it. Thank you.
HARLOW: All right. Turning to Ukraine now, this morning Ukraine forces are bracing for retaliation a day after Russia accused Kyiv of sending drones to attack buildings in Moscow. Ukraine is denying that.
Kyiv has had one of its quietest nights in days as Russia did not launch attacks on the capital last night. But speculation is growing that they may just be reloading their arsenal.
Meanwhile, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region blaming Ukraine for a, quote, "massive strike" overnight, leaving four people there injured.
Let's go to our colleague, Fred Pleitgen. He joins us again this morning, in Kyiv, Ukraine, with more.
I mean, it is odd to see such a quiet night, especially after those attacks on Russia that Russia is blaming Ukraine for. What does it feel like on the ground?
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly felt like a quiet night. And I think, no matter what the reason behind it is, the people here will certainly take it. They have been under a lot of pressure, Poppy, for the past couple of days.
But a lot of those Russian strikes not only happening overnight but happening during the daytime hours, as well. And there certainly was the fear here on the ground and also among the authorities that there could be massive retaliation immediately after those alleged drone attacks that happened in Moscow, the Russian capitol, which as you pointed out, the Ukrainians are continuing to say they have nothing to do with.
But the Russians are squarely saying they know that it was the Ukrainians that did this. So that was one of the reasons why there was that concern that there could be big strikes coming up. And you know, as you said, there are Ukrainian officials who are
publicly speculating as to what exactly might be the case. The Ukrainians, for instance, saying the Russians might be reloading their arsenal, might be bringing more of those Shahed drones into place, as well.
They also say, for quite some time, Popp, that they haven't seen any sea-launched cruise missiles from the Russians. So they fear that something like that could be in the works, as well.
There's one official, an adviser to the interior ministry, who is speculating whether or not maybe that's -- drone attack in Moscow did have an effect on the Russian government, even though the Ukrainians are saying it was not them. That maybe it was something that could cause them to maybe slow down a little bit as far as the strikes in Kyiv are concerned.
Again, very difficult to say. But certainly, the folks here on the ground will take the quiet that they had last night.
HARLOW: But what about, Fred, the strikes in Belgorod, in that region? Four dead as a result. Is that the beginning of a counteroffensive?
PLEITGEN: Yes. It could very well be at least one element of that, where potentially the Ukrainians, you know, we've heard might be trying to put the Russians under pressure on their own turf to then possibly launch a counterattack somewhere else.
Just to deviate from where the Russians are able to build up forces. Obviously, also, the Russians having to strengthen their border in the Belgorod region, as well.
Of course, we had that cross-border raid by that anti-Putin Russian group just last week. And now, overnight, there were these considerable strikes, as the governor of the Belgorod region put it, that injured several people on the ground there in a small village called Shebekino (ph).
Now, I was actually in that village in the early stages of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as we were stationed down here. It's a very small place. But certainly someone -- a place that's very close to an important military center for the Russians.
So that's certainly something where we see that the Russians are under pressure on their own turf. Unclear whether it's part of that new offensive. But certainly something that the Kremlin today said they're very concerned about.
HARLOW: Fred Pleitgen for us. Thank you. Really appreciate the reporting, Fred. Thank you.
Well, ahead, in our next hour, 7 a.m. Eastern hour, we'll speak with the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko. He'll join us on CNN THIS MORNING.
HILL: Emotional testimony, heartbreaking 911 calls heard during day one of the Tree of Life murder trial. Just ahead, the last words from those who were killed inside their own synagogue.
HARLOW: We're also going to take you live to Iowa this morning, where Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is now sharpening his attack against his former ally.
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GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, now he's attacking me over some of these disagreements. But I think he's doing it in a way that the voters are going to side with me.
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DESANTIS: I think our voters are looking at this, and they say, you know, Yes, we appreciate what he did. But we also recognize there are a lot of voters that just aren't going to ever vote for him. We just have to accept that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: That, of course, GOP presidential hopeful, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, slamming former Donald Trump's electability there. This morning, DeSantis continues his campaign swing across Iowa. He's expected to leave for New Hampshire just as former President Trump arrives in the Hawkeye State.
CNN's Jessica Dean is live this morning in Des Moines.
So Jessica, Governor DeSantis, I guess the gloves are officially off at this point. He's rally been sharpening his attacks against Trump.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he certainly is. And it was interesting to note that, in his remarks to the crowd last night, he really didn't go after Trump directly at all. But it was when he talked to the press afterward that we heard more about that.
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DEAN (voice-over): Florida Governor Ron DeSantis kicking off his White House bid on Tuesday.
DESANTIS: It's great for me to report that our great American comeback starts by sending Joe Biden back to his basement in Delaware.
DEAN (voice-over): Making his first campaign stop in Iowa, a state set to give an early glimpse into whether Republican primary voters can move on from former President Donald Trump.
DESANTIS: -- if you don't win.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.
DESANTIS: There is no substitute for victory. We must put an end to the culture of losing that has infected the Republican Party of recent years.
DEAN (voice-over): The governor notably did not mention the former president by name in his kickoff address.
DESANTIS: At the end of the day, leadership is not about entertainment. It's not about building a brand. It's not about virtue signaling. It's about results.
DEAN (voice-over): But as the Trump campaign steps up its attacks on the Florida governor, DeSantis made clear his rebuttals to those criticisms while taking questions from the press after his speech.
DESANTIS: He used to say how great Florida was. Hell, his whole family moved to Florida under my governorship.
DEAN (voice-over): Appearing confident that voters would reject Trump's attacks on his former ally in Florida.
DESANTIS: Now he's attacking me over some of these disagreements. But I think he's doing it in a way that the voters are going to side with me.
DEAN (voice-over): And taking indirect jabs at the former president himself.
DESANTIS: I don't need someone to give me a list to know what a conservative justice looks like.
DEAN (voice-over): All while summing up where he thinks his real fight lies.
DESANTIS: I'm going to focus my fire on Biden. And I think he should do the same. He gives Biden a free pass. I'm focusing on Biden.
DEAN (voice-over): The first official stop as a candidate, a smoother campaign launch than the glitch-filled Twitter announcement for DeSantis last week. The governor offering familiar attacks against the Biden economy.
DESANTIS: The Biden administration is doing all it can to make it harder for the average family to make ends meet and to attain and maintain a middle-class lifestyle.
DEAN (voice-over): And criticizing fellow Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's debt limit deal that is now headed to the House floor on Wednesday.
DESANTIS: The bill for the massive borrowing, spending and debt and record printing of money by the Fed, that's falling on the American people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[06:20:10]
DEAN (on camera): Today, we expect to see Governor DeSantis traveling all across Iowa as he talks to voters here, Erica. And from here, he will travel to New Hampshire and South Carolina. Of course, hitting all of those early states, and we anticipate seeing him doing that often and aggressively.
To that note, he'll be back here in Iowa on Saturday -- Erica.
HILL: It's going to be a very busy few months ahead. Jessica, appreciate it. Thank you.
DEAN: Yes.
HARLOW: Now to this. The trial for a man accused of killing 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, that trial opened yesterday with horrific 911 calls from the attack.
One of them included a woman's final words. Bernice Simon is heard saying, quote, "Tree of Life, we're being attacked. We are being attacked. My husband is shot. Oh, dear God. My husband is bleeding. He is shot in the back, and I'm scared to death." And then she stopped talking.
Bernice and her husband, Sylvan, both died. They got married at that synagogue, at the Tree of Life, 62 years before they were shot there.
Families of the victims, members of the Jewish community were in the courtroom yesterday. They could be seen leaving the courthouse at the end of the day and getting on the bus with a police escort.
Prosecutors are calling for the death penalty of the suspect, Robert Bowers. Bowers is accused of carrying out the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Danny Freeman is live for us again this morning in Pittsburgh, covering all of this. We heard from before you the trial began yesterday. And now we've seen prosecutors as they lay out their case in these opening remarks. Walk us through it.
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy.
And by the way, you just mentioned exactly how emotional and challenging yesterday was in the courtroom. Some of those 911 calls. Well, we'll get to that in a second.
Really, what the prosecution tried to do yesterday is not only establish that Robert Bowers was the one who killed 11 worshippers in Pittsburgh on -- in that synagogue on that day in October of 2018, but also that he did it specifically because those worshippers were Jewish, and he did so in a truly horrific fashion.
And yesterday we really learned new details about just how violent and just how intentional that shooting was. Prosecutors said that Robert Bowers went through the synagogue room by room, methodically hunting Jewish worshippers. That's the prosecution's word.
Now in the end of that shooting, the SWAT team, actually, from Pittsburgh got into a shootout with Robert Bowers. He eventually surrendered. And a SWAT officer asked Bowers, "Why did you do this?"
And Bowers responded, according to prosecution, "Because all Jews need to die. Jews are killing our kids."
Now it's interesting, as we also heard from the defense yesterday in their opening statements, and they're not disputing any of the facts. They say, the defense attorney, Judy Clarke, said that Bowers' actions were incomprehensible and inexcusable. And that there will be no question as to that this was a planned act.
However, the defense is asking the jury to consider if, in their words, his "irrational motives" and misguided intent, if those things fit with the 63 felony charges that he is facing.
But Poppy, I want to walk through the 911 calls that you just mentioned at the top. You heard from Bernice Simon. You read that particular phone call. It was so harrowing.
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers was the rabbi of the Tree of Life congregation. He survived the shooting. And they played one of his 911 calls in the trial yesterday. And it was harrowing.
You heard him desperately trying to guide first-responders to the synagogue and to his room. And then prosecutors realized that there was a silence in the 911 call.
So prosecutors asked Rabbi Myers, Why was there this science [SIC] -- this silence, rather?
And Rabbi Myers said, "I was praying, because I expected to die. I was initially trying to decide in that moment," Rabbi Myers said, "whether I hang up the phone and call my wife or make a video for her. But he said, I thought if this was the end, I wasn't going to leave her, my wife, a message like this."
So, again, just an incredible, intense day in the courtroom yesterday. And we're expecting to see more of that in the days to come -- Poppy.
HARLOW: Danny, we really appreciate you being there. Thank you for the reporting.
HILL: The billionaire family that owns Purdue Pharma will now be protected from lawsuits over their role in the opioid crisis. How this decision impacts victims and their families.
HARLOW: Also this morning, we're hearing from the 11-year-old boy who called police for help but was shot in the chest instead.
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ADERRIEN MURRY, SHOT BY POLICE AFTER CALLING 911: I'm thinking, like, I'm going to die. To my whole family and tell my teacher, I say I'm sorry for what I did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[06:28:45]
HILL: An appeals court in New York has granted the Sackler family immunity in exchange for a $6 billion opioid settlement.
Now, the billionaire family that owns Purdue Pharma will now be shielded from current and future lawsuits. Purdue Pharma began selling Oxycontin in the 1990s, branding it as a -- and this is key here -- a nonaddictive drug.
They're accused of fueling the opioid crisis that has killed more than half a million people over the last 20 years.
CNN's Jean Casarez joining us now with more.
So Jean, the Sacklers have to personally pay out this $6 billion. But then that's it?
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Then they are shielded from private claims, individual claims.
You know, this started in 2019. Purdue Pharma declared and filed for bankruptcy. So you've got Purdue Pharma, which is the company. But the Sacklers which are the individuals. The Sacklers did not file for bankruptcy. Just the corporation did.
And I remember, I was actually in that courtroom when the judge announced that day, from a very beginning, that all these private claims, because everybody was suing the Sacklers, right? That they were going to be folded into the bankruptcy claim, because in the channels of bankruptcy.
And so that is where the case proceeded. And all this negotiation for all these years has really been how much money of personal funds are they going to pay for victim compensation, for programs to abate. You know, community programs, state programs --
HARLOW: Addiction programs.
CASAREZ: -- addiction programs.
[06:30:00]
