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CNN This Morning

Three Dead, Dozens Injured as Tornado Hits Small Texas Town; Energy Department Among Federal Agencies Hit in Global Cyberattack; Justice Department Expected to Announce Findings of Review of Minneapolis Police Department After George Floyd Murder; Miami Mayor Joins Crowded GOP Presidential Field; Teamsters Will Likely Authorize A UPS Strike; Juneteenth Becoming One Of The Busiest Holiday Travel Period. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired June 16, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR MUNOZ, PERRYTON TORNADO SURVIVOR: Accessories can be replaced, but life can never be replaced.

[08:00:04]

And just being in the tornado, thinking about it like my brother worrying, crying, it would have killed me, it would have hurt me inside. I don't know what I would have done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning, everyone. That was a resident of Perryton, Texas, getting emotional, talking about his brothers who survived the tornado that ripped through their small town. We're going to take you there live as the sun comes up and reveals the extent of the devastation.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: We are also learning multiple U.S. federal agencies were hit in a cyberattack run by Russians. A top cybersecurity agency is now warning the government is not the only target.

HARLOW: And three years after the murder of George Floyd, the Justice Department is set to announce what they discovered after investigating the Minneapolis Police Department.

This hour of CNN This Morning starts right now.

And that is where we begin this morning with tragedy, a devastating tornado touching down in Perryton, Texas, leaving widespread destruction in its wake.

People there had very little time to get ready to protect themselves before this tornado started barreling through the small town of just over 8,000 people. Here's what we know this hour. Three people dead, possibly 100 more injured, with some minor injuries, but some very extensive injuries and critical condition and hospitalized. The tornado left about 200 houses completely flattened, nearly leveled some buildings and also leveled dozens of mobile homes.

HILL: So, this is just one of several tornadoes reported across the country. Take a look at this video. This is some dash cam video from Toledo, Ohio. You see those strong winds. You see the debris blowing there, drivers waiting for that storm to pass. Right now, nearly 400,000 customers across Texas, Florida, Oklahoma and Alabama are without power, and more than 50 million people remain under a severe storm threat today.

I want to get straight to CNN's Lucy Kafanov. She is in Perryton, Texas with more now. Sun coming up and, really, folks are going to be able to assess this damage and the destruction left behind, Lucy.

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that's exactly what's happening. There was a curfew here overnight, but people are slowly starting to stream in downtown. That's main street behind me. It took a direct hit. A lot of the buildings are brick structures, so they're still standing, but the windows are gone, a lot of the power lines are down.

And I want to point out this mangled red structure in the distance behind me. That is a cell tower. It was probably twice, three times the height when it was standing. It looks like a child's toy that was snapped in half. The town currently really struggling to have cell service. It's also struggling to have access to power. Xcel turned off the electric lines because so many power lines are down.

I want to show a view to our viewers down this alleyway there. I mean, you can see just how decimated a lot of the structures here are. The cleanup is going to take such a long time. And, of course, much more challenging for the people who live here is rebuilding the homes. A lot of the mobile homes in this area were completely destroyed, but the tornado hit -- so, pardon me, the tornado hit so quickly that residents barely had time to get out to safety.

Take a listen to Jamie James, one of the survivors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE JAMES, PERRYTON TORNADO SURVIVOR: It started raining a little bit and it had a little bit of hail, like five or six little pellets of hail, every thousand raindrops. It was just barely sprinkling. And all of a sudden the tornado formed and it just dropped on us. It came out of nowhere when. There was no sirens.

KAFANOV: Was there a moment where you feared you might not make it?

JAMES: Yes, ma'am. There was a time where I thought that I was going to die and I was going to leave a lot of things undone. I know there's people here who died today serving our community. Some of the best people I've ever met in my life are here in this town, wonderful, wonderful people.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KAFANOV: And right now the focus is on figuring out where everyone is, if people are safe. A lot of folks were injured, and also they need a lot of supplies, water, power, food, blankets, almost anything you can think of, they need right now.

HARLOW: Lucy, thank you very much for being on the ground talking to them, bringing us the latest.

Also in Florida, 146 resident s were removed from a Pensacola apartment complex this morning due to really severe flooding. The area is under a flashflood emergency. They saw as much as 16 inches of rain overnight, and officials called the damage widespread and significant.

HILL: CNN has learned the Department of Energy, along with several other federal agencies, fell victim to a global cyberattack.

[08:05:04]

A top U.S. cybersecurity agency says Russian cybercriminals are to blame here. This breach, of course, is just the latest in an ongoing global hacking campaign, which CNN has learned has affected several hundred companies and organizations. That's according to a top security official, citing estimates from private experts.

HARLOW: In a statement, the U.S. Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency tells CNN it's providing support to the affected agencies. They're working to understand the impact and ensure timely remediation.

Let's talk about all this, how this happened, who did it, and what do we do now with CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller. Good morning and let's begin with that first question, how severe.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, the severity of these things generally depends on the sophistication of the victim at the other end of it, which is if you backed up your data every day, you could lose a day's worth of data. If you back it up every hour, you could lose an hour, a minute a minute.

But lots of organizations in and out of the government just don't back up their data. The hackers come in, they find their target, they encrypt it and they leave it there sitting in a lump that's now you have to decode it. You can't get into it. You have to buy that key from them. So, if you have your data backed up on another server, you can decide what to do with the hackers, but you haven't lost everything.

HILL: So, when we look at you say they have to decide whether or not they're going to buy that information back, right, that's if there's a request for a ransom. We know that private companies have paid ransoms in the past. When we're talking, though, about U.S. government agencies, that's typically not something that's going to happen. So, do we have a sense of how -- sort of how severe and how broad this was for those agencies, potentially, how damaging? MILLER: Well, so, the government is keeping their cards a little close to the vest on this about exactly what agencies and how many were hit and exactly what data was compromised. But, presumably, because these are government systems, there are backups and it's not a systematic failure.

It's interesting the way this occurs, because one way is to attack the system itself by getting into a phishing email. The other way, which is becoming increasingly more common and much more sophisticated, is you find a tool that the system uses.

HARLOW: Move it, transfer in this --

MILLER: In this case, move and transfer. You get into a vulnerability, a backdoor into that tool, and then once the tool is activated to do its job, whatever passes through it is fair game. And this is something where not every agency use that tool but some do. And this is kind of what they're grappling with. But the U.S. government isn't going to pay a ransom.

And it's interesting that the hackers said, by the way, if you're the government or law enforcement, we're not interested in your information, so don't worry about it. We're not going to --

HARLOW: Don't worry, we deleted it. Don't worry about it, sure.

MILLER: Personally, I always put my trust in Russian hackers and their words.

HARLOW: Yes, well placed trust.

MILLER: I wouldn't go by that.

HILL: John, I appreciate it, as always. Thank you.

HARLOW: Thanks very much.

Well, Attorney General Merrick Garland will be in Minneapolis today, where, in just a few hours, he's expected to reveal the findings of a Justice Department investigation into the city's police department. This comes three years after former Police Officer Derek Chauvin murder George Floyd. Floyd's murder sparked nationwide protests and calls for police reform.

Our Adrienne Broaddus joins us live outside of the courthouse in Minneapolis. Adrienne, this is really the culmination of what so many people who live there said has been a real problem for years, even before George Floyd was murdered. What do we expect?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We expect to find or hear today from the Department of Justice what their investigation found. I spoke with community leaders here in Minneapolis ahead of this announcement, and some of them told me whatever is in this report, they likely will not be surprised. It will just be an exclamation point or a period at the end of a sentence. That sentence is in regards to what they've been saying, they, meaning people who live here in Minneapolis for years, as you mentioned, Poppy, before the killing of George Floyd.

Keep in mind this investigation was launched by the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, and the goal was to examine the policies and practices with the Minneapolis Police Department.

Listen in to what Nekima Levy Armstrong told me. She is the person who called the former chief of police, Medaria Arradondo, at the time George Floyd was killed. She's the woman who told the chief to look at the video because the chief initially was believing it was a medical incident. We all know that was not the case. Listen in.

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NEKIMA LEVY ARMSTRONG, ATTORNEY AND FOUNDER, THE RACIAL JUSTICE NETWORK: There's an no doubt that this report found many egregious incidences of excessive force and abuse and probably even the use of deadly force unjustifiably on the part of the Minneapolis Police Department. Although I'm unsure how far the DOJ will go in terms of pulling the curtain back on the horrific behaviors of Minneapolis police officers that, again, they've been allowed to get away with for so many years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:10:14]

BROADDUS: So, the one thing that folks here in the city are looking forward to hearing today reform and what will reform look like. Poppy?

HARLOW: Yes. Adrienne, thank you. I'm glad you're there.

HILL: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez making his first pitch to voters, offering an alternative to the other two Floridians who are currently in that Republican race for the White House. And you'll hear from him directly next live right here on CNN This Morning.

HARLOW: Also new overnight, Pope Francis back at the Vatican after a nine-day hospital say. He's recovering from a surgery. After leaving the hospital, he went to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore to pray. The 86-year-old is feeling, quote, better than before, according to the Vatican. That is good news. The pope will deliver his weekly prayer on Sunday.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR FRANCIS SUAREZ (R-MIAMI, FL): America, I, Francis Suarez, come as one who loves you and one you have given every blessing to. And because I love this country, I want to serve it with humility and gratitude for all that you have done for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: That is Miami Mayor Francis Suarez delivering his first speech as a presidential candidate. He did that at the Reagan Library in California last night. His bid considered a long shot of what has become a very crowded Republican presidential field.

The 45-year-old Republican is a Cuban-American and two-time mayor of Miami, and we're happy to welcome him this morning to CNN This Morning.

[08:15:00]

Good morning.

And let's begin with what you tweeted that really struck me because, of course, your dad was mayor as well. You said, my dad taught me that you get to choose your battles, and I'm choosing the biggest of my life. You are jumping into this race, Mr. Mayor, with Governors, with the Senator, with a Vice President and, of course, former President Trump. Why do you think you are better suited than all of them to be the Commander in Chief?

FRANCIS SUAREZ (R), MAYOR OF MIAMI, FL: Well, good morning, Poppy. I think the reason why is because mayors are closest to the people. And we deal with the real problems that people care about. We deal with crime, we deal with homelessness, we deal with mental health issues. These are the issues that people deal with and face on a daily basis. In the city of Miami, we reduced taxes to the lowest level in history, and we saw double digit growth. We invested in our police department, and we had the lowest homicide rate per capita since 1964. I was born in 1977.

OK, this year, we're 40 percent below that number. What we're seeing a crime, spike throughout the country. And then the last thing is we focused on prosperity. We're number one in the nation in wage growth. And we have the lowest unemployment in America. And we did that by focusing on the next generation's economy. That's what we have to do as a country, we have to create prosperity, which leads to things like happiness, which also has great mental health outcomes.

HARLOW: Mr. Mayor, some of some, even some of your fellow Republicans, even some Republicans in your state, just worry that you don't have enough experience. Listen to this from Florida Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): I don't think that he is -- he is qualified to be President of the United States in any way, shape, or form.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why is that?

GIMENEZ: Well, because he's a -- he's a-- he hasn't demonstrated the ability to lead any large organization. The city of Miami, he's a ceremonial Mayor of the City of Miami. He has very, very little power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: I'd like to give you a chance to respond. SUAREZ: Well, I think the skills that you need to be a President don't change based on the number of zeros, right? So, the courage that it takes, for example, to balance a budget. The courage that it takes to make radical change in your city so that you create prosperity, and you give educational opportunity to everyone. That has nothing to do with the number of zeros or the number of employees that you manage. Being able to inspire people, being able to lead an organization, whether it's 4500 employees that we have in the city of Miami, or 450,000, or four and a half million, it really doesn't matter. Who you are, and how you project yourself is what really matters.

HARLOW: Let's --

SUAREZ: Unfortunately, I don't agree with the former Mayor on this one.

HARLOW: OK, let's get to some policy issues. You stand out from some of your Republican competitors in this primary, because of your position on climate change. The Republican platform in 2016 and 2020 reads climate change is far from this nation's most pressing national security issue. This is the triumph of extremism over common sense, Congress must stop it. Does the Republican Party need to change its stance on climate change, sir?

SUAREZ: You know, in Miami, we like to say the environment is the economy. We don't separate one from the other. We don't make it a dichotomy of one or the other. We don't pit them against each other. We need drinking water, it's an existential issue for us. So, we need to make sure that our everglades are clean. We have eco-tourism in our bay. So, we want to make sure that our bay is healthy. And yes, we have hurricanes, we have dry day flooding, and we have things called rain bombs. So, we've invested in resiliency and making sure that we can adapt to those climatic events. That's just good policy.

HARLOW: Yes.

SUAREZ: And I think, by the way, we've gotten money from a Republican controlled State legislature, in fact, more than we've gotten so far from a Democrat controlled infrastructure bill.

HARLOW: So, that sounds like a yes, you disagree with the Republican platform. Let's turn to abortion. The Associated Press says that you expressed in this interview, just deal with them yesterday. You've expressed support for a 15-week Federal ban on abortion? To be clear then, you do not think that abortion is an issue that should be left to the states. You would sign a 15-week federal ban?

SUAREZ: You know, abortion is an incredibly personal and deeply personal issue, I think in States like New York, where they allow abortion up to birth, I think that's barbaric. In Miami, we have the fourth largest --

HARLOW: That is not -- that is not the norm, Mr. Mayor, and you know that.

SUAREZ: It may not be the norm, but it is the case in some states. And so, in Miami, where we have the fourth largest public hospital in America. I've seen babies in incubators are 22 weeks. That's something you can't unsee. I'm pro-life, my wife is pro-life, my three sisters are pro-life, my mother's pro-life, my parents met at a pro-life rally. And, you know, and my sister who has five kids, you know, had her fourth after knowing she was going to have genetic abnormality. So, I think this is a deeply personal and difficult decision. We don't give it enough time to discuss it. But yes, I would -- I would -- I would sign a 15 week ban because I think that that would save a tremendous amount of babies.

HARLOW: I appreciate you answering that question directly. I do want to ask about something that a lot of people in Florida in Miami in particular are talking about. And this is reporting out of the Miami Herald about your actions in terms of in terms of the consulting that you do. Quote, sources told the Herald that he, meaning you, face scrutiny by the FBI and local authorities for $10,000 monthly payments you receive from a developer for consulting work while serving as a mayor.

[08:20:21]

That is small potatoes compared to Trump's legal problems. But those fees look like a conflict of interest. This is alleged to have just happened from August 2022 to March of this year. What is your response?

SUAREZ: Well, you just said it. It's alleged to have happened from August to March. I've been a public official, working public official for 13 years. I've never had an issue, never had a scandal. And by the way, most mayors in Dade County work 31 out of 34 mayors' work. All of a sudden, I start talking about the possibility of running for President and these things start to surface miraculously.

HARLOW: But the allegation is that you gave the developer. The allegation is the developer they paid you 10 grand a month $170,000 total. You helped them get the city permits. Did you -- did you -- did you put your sum on the scale?

SUAREZ: Right, and it's completely false. No. Absolutely not.

HARLOW: OK.

SUAREZ: Absolutely not. I had knowledge of what was going on in the city and he was able to get his permits without my intervention.

HARLOW: OK.

SUAREZ: None whatsoever. It's never happened and it's never going to happen.

HARLOW: All right, finally, I do want to ask you about Trump. I know you've said people shouldn't focus on the Trump indictment. And that's why we talked about a whole lot of other issues. But it is important that you weigh in on this. You're running against them.

SUAREZ: Thank you. HARLOW: You told ABC News yesterday that a lot of Republicans are telling you this indictment is not an equal administration of justice. You're a registered Republican, you're running for president. Do you share that view of Jack Smith's investigation?

SUAREZ: You know, that is what people feel. And I think what happens is a disconnection of each of one of people feel.

HARLOW: What do you -- what do you feel Mr. Mayor? What do you think? What do you think?

SUAREZ: Well, I think that there -- that there is an unequal administration of justice. When you see in the Comey investigation, for example of Hillary Clinton's email server. Where he says that she has broken potentially federal laws, but she doesn't think that -- he doesn't think it should be prosecuted. That's prosecutorial discretion. I think what we should do as a country is focus on the issues that matter to people. And this is a distraction.

HARLOW: Yes.

SUAREZ: This creates a toxic environment in our country. And I think it's not healthy for us to focus on that.

HARLOW: Director Comey, in the findings on Secretary Clinton. Director Comey said it was not willful, one of the key charges here is 31 charges, felony charges of willful retention of classified documents. You're a lawyer, you're a practicing lawyer. Do you think allegations, look at all of these in this indictment, including willful retention of classified documents, obstruction of justice? Do they concern you, sir?

SUAREZ: Of course, it concerned me. And I think, you know, the willfulness question will be determined, obviously, throughout the trial. And the former President is presumed innocent until proven guilty, like everyone is in America. And a lot of defendants have felt like they're unfairly prosecuted throughout this country. So, that will be what the case turns on. Whether it was willful or not, I certainly would have turned over the documents immediately because that's what I would have done.

But we've seen situations where other public officials, high ranking public officials kept classified documents. I think for regular people like me, we don't really understand what that means, why that happens. We can understand why any public official wouldn't just turn over all classified materials at the end of their presidency or vice presidency or whatever. It's just a bewildering situation for everybody.

HARLOW: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, we really appreciate your time. Please come back.

SUAREZ: Thank you, Poppy, for sure.

HARLOW: Thank you. Be well, Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: All right, you may be packing right now to travel for the holiday weekend. Want to give you a little warning here. The airport's going to be a little busy today. We'll take a closer look at what the TSA is expecting. Also, what we're learning this morning about a strike vote that could severely impact the economy.

[08:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: As you get started with your morning on this Friday, here are five things for you to know. A verdict expected today in the Pittsburgh mass shooting trial. Robert Bowers accused of killing 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018. If convicted, there will be a separate penalty phase for the same jury to decide on whether the death penalty is warranted.

HILL: More major decisions are expected to be handed down when the Supreme Court convenes today. It's unclear which opinions will come but we do know some of the big cases that which we have not yet heard a ruling on, concern affirmative action student loans and LGBTQ rights.

HARLOW: Secretary State Antony Blinken set to take off from Beijing later today in a trip aimed to warming up China's frosty relationship with the United States. This marks the most Senior visit to China by an American official in five years.

HILL: Attorneys working on former President Trump's classified documents case need to reach out to the Justice Department by today to get security clearance. That's the first order that came from the judge overseeing that case. An underscore the sensitive nature of the documents involved here that the former President is accused of withholding.

HARLOW: Also, more than 300,000 Teamster UPS drivers expected authorize a big strike today when they vote. It comes after months of contract negotiations over sticking points like higher pay and creating more full-time jobs. UPS has an estimated six percent of U.S. GDP, that's what they hold it if approved this strike could severely damage the economy. Five things you need to know this morning. More on these all day, right here on CNN and CNN.com. And don't forget to download the five things podcast every morning.

HILL: Well, today is expected to be one of the busiest summer travel days. Why? It is a holiday weekend, of course. This is just ahead of Juneteenth, which celebrates black history and freedom, and it's our federal holiday. And increasingly, that new federal holiday is really packing airports around the country. So, who better to talk to than our good friend, Pete Muntean?