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New Accusation Against Justice Alito; Slowdown of Migrants at Border; Kohberger's DNA Matched Knife in Murders; Bertrand Piccard is Interviewed about the Missing Sub; U.S. Home Construction Surged in May. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired June 21, 2023 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: This dispute. We didn't see any names like Paul Singer that might have flagged it, so it wasn't our fault. We went through it. But this was an entity that was related to Singer and his name wasn't there. Alito saying that (INAUDIBLE) neither the private jet trip or those (ph) was problematic (INAUDIBLE).

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And the petitioner in that case, NML Capital, you would just have to look it up to see the relationship to Singer, it being his fund.

ProPublica says that this violates a federal law. That's quite a - that's quite an accusation. What is - what is Alito saying about that?

DE VOGUE: Well, like I said, Alito says, look, at the time the gift disclosure did not cover private jets for social trips. And that has been an issue in the Clarence Thomas case because the administrative office of U.S. courts came out and clarified and said, well, now it does. But that's the big question here. Ethics people are really raising that flag. And, of course, Poppy, it is so unheard of to have a justice of the Supreme Court pen a "Wall Street Journal" article defending himself even before "ProPublica" published it.

HARLOW: Yes.

DE VOGUE: "ProPublica" went to the Supreme Court, said, we're working on this story, we'd like comment, and they got no comment. And before they knew it, Alito had gone forward. He had written this very unusual op-ed defending himself with his own byline.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Ariane de Vogue, with the reporting, thanks so much.

DE VOGUE: Thank you.

HARLOW: So, a federal judge has overturned a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth in Arkansas. In an 80-page ruling, Judge James Moody Jr. said that that law violated the plaintiff's right to due process and equal protection under the Constitution. Here's part of his opinion. Quote, rather than protecting children or safeguarding medical ethics, the evidence showed that the prohibited medical care improves the mental health and well-being of patients and that by prohibiting it the state undermines the interest it claims to be advancing, closed quote. That law would have prevented medical treatment options for trans youth, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy.

BLACKWELL: It's been just over a month since the U.S. was bracing for a surge of migrants when the pandemic-era immigration policy known as Title 42 came to an end. But in the weeks since the flow of migrants has slowed into the U.S. Instead, they're flooding into Mexico, but still hoping for U.S. asylum.

CNN's David Culver spoke with many of them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On the sidewalks in El Paso, that last month were covered with migrants, today only a handful camp out. But travel more than 500 miles south into places like Mexico City and the numbers are rapidly rising, overwhelming for the catholic nuns who run this shelter. Sister Maria Silva says at night every aspect of the shelter floor -

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

CULVER: Inside and outside, covered with the thin mattresses you see stacked around us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language).

CULVER (on camera): Wow. This -- Mexico City, which is very far from the border, as she sees it, has now become a border town but in the center of Mexico.

CULVER (voice over): The migrants here spend their mornings trying to get an appointment with a U.S. asylum officer using the CBP 1 (ph) app. In a confirmed date, nearly impossible for some.

CULVER (on camera): You can tell it's - it's crushing here. And I said, so what are you guys going to do? And they said, just wait. Wait for the day.

CULVER (voice over): Maria Jose Camacho (ph), and her husband, Inderviez (ph), from Venezuela, arrived two weeks ago in Mexico with their four-year-old daughter. Living here for the past several days.

CULVER (on camera): (Speaking in Foreign Language).

They feel like, after Title 42 expired, that it's now much more difficult to try to cross.

CULVER (voice over): Title 42, the pandemic-era immigration policy, allowed U.S. officials to immediately expel migrants who crossed illegally without processing their claims for asylum. Those same migrants would often try and try again until they got in. Now, Title 8 back in full effect. Sure, it gives migrants the right to claim asylum, but those who fail to qualify risk being banned from entering the U.S. for at least five years.

The result? Migrants flooding into Mexico, where they then wait to figure out how they can get into the U.S.

CULVER (on camera): And you can see encampments have already taken up most of this little square here. You can see along this street you've got an art gallery, a nice restaurant. But then just turn the corner here and look down this sidewalk. You can see tents and families who have been set up for days and weeks with nowhere else to go at this point.

[08:35:07]

CULVER (voice over): We drive an hour outside Mexico City, where a government-run shelter is set up to handle the overflow. Officials tell us most here from Haiti. Makeshift medical stations. This little girl complaining of a sore throat. Her dad says she's not wanted to eat in five days. They pass the time doing chores and playing sports.

Their cell phones sit in a web of chargers. Battery power fuels their chances of getting an online CBP appointment. Eventually, they move on.

CULVER (on camera): So you can see these folks here are going to be boarding the bus. They're going to go meet with Mexican authorities and get paperwork that allows them asylum in Mexico. Basically, they're trying to buy more time so as to then continue on their journey to get closer to the U.S. southern border, eventually get an appointment with a U.S. asylum officer, and they hope enter the U.S. legally.

CULVER (voice over): Since Title 42 expired, migrant crossings are down, for now at least.

We visited Eagle Pass, Texas. Main street, quiet. But Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales warns what we saw building up in Mexico will push north.

REP. TONY GONZALES (R-TX): So it's almost a calm. I say calm. There's 800 apprehensions a day just in the Del Rio sector. On the other side, on the Mexico side, it's just building up, building up. The cartel will adapt and then that will be the next thing that they send over.

CULVER: U.S. border officials warn as more migrants either fail to qualify for asylum or grow frustrated waiting, they're turning to cartel-controlled smugglers to get across. The congressman proposing a bipartisan approach to counter that.

GONZALES: So, I'm of the mindset, stop sending them down that route. Send them another route. Work visas make sense to me. Remove the politics in it. Remove the, you have access to vote or have access to social services and say, hey, do you want to have a job? We have a job for you. Link up the two.

CULVER: Back in Mexico City, we find Maria Jose (ph), Ander (ph), and their daughter walking a busy commercial street carrying a sign and candies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're a Venezuelan migrant family and we're asking for your support.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CULVER: I think the biggest concern when you look at this right now, Poppy and Victor, is that you have these Mexican cartel backed smugglers that really see this as an opportunity, potential business, right? And U.S. officials have warned they've even seen recent cases of those migrants following those smugglers into the Pacific Ocean, swimming into California in the middle of the night. It shows you just how desperate and dangerous some of these journeys are really becoming.

BLACKWELL: Yes, indeed it does. Fascinating reporting there, David. Thank you so much.

HARLOW: Always taking us to the middle of where it's happening. David, we appreciate it.

Now, a live look at Newfoundland where crews are hoping that banging sound detected in the search for the Titan submersible will actually lead to a rescue. Why are - why many are wondering what the passengers onboard are going through right now. We'll get some expert insight ahead.

BLACKWELL: And new revelations just into CNN about the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students last fall.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:41:17]

HARLOW: Well, this just into CNN. There are newly revealed court documents about the suspect in the murders of four University of Idaho students. They say that Bryan Kohberger's DNA is a, quote, statistical match to the knife recovered at the crime scene. Now, Kohberger has pleaded not guilty. He will go to trial in October.

And our Jean Casarez has been following this story from the beginning as they were looking for a suspect even.

Jean, good morning. What do we know?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Well, this is a 33-page document. It just came out. And the headline really from this document is that after Bryan Kohberger was, obviously, arrested, they did a bugle (ph) swab, a DNA swab in his mouth to get his DNA. And that DNA, according to this document, is a statistical match to that unknown DNA on the knife sheath.

Now, this document came about because the defense had filed a motion for discovery. They wanted all the information they could find, which is definitely reasonable, on the DNA, the forensic testing, everything they could find. So this, in a sense, is responding to all of that.

But now also another headline from this is the first time we are hearing in writing -- and we confirmed this through our sources on the very first day of when he was arrested - but the first time it's in a legal document, that the FBI took that unknown DNA on the knife sheath originally to a public genealogy database and they looked at any matches, even remote of any DNA that matched even in slight part to that unknown DNA along with old-fashioned investigative work of geography, who would be in that northeast area of the United States, and they told local authorities Kohberger is the person you need to look at. And it went on from there. And then the state authorities took it from there, along with the FBI.

But you know the irony in all of this is, there's a gag order because the judge and the attorneys do not want to taint the jury pool.

HARLOW: Sure.

CASAREZ: But with this information that was thrown into this legal document, the prosecution, and many would say this is a huge development in this case.

BLACKWELL: Certainly is.

CASAREZ: And we do not have a response from the defense at all, if they do respond, because, remember, there's a gag order.

HARLOW: Jean, we appreciate the reporting. Thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Jean.

New developments this morning in the desperate search for the missing tour submersible that disappeared on its way to the site of that Titanic wreckage. Crews searching for the Titan submersible heard banging sounds picked up by sonar devices. That's according to an internal government memo. With about 24 hours, though, of breathable air left for the five people onboard, the sounds offer a spark of hope in this massive search operation.

Joining us now world-renowned explorer and chairman of an environmental non-profit the Solar Impulse Foundation, Dr. Bertrand Piccard. He's the son of Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard who, among many accomplishments -- many, many accomplishments, invented the first submarine to carry tourists.

So, you are the right person to speak with about this. Thanks for your time.

First, when you heard the news of the banging sounds and the 30-minute intervals, what does that tell you. Do you have as much hope as, of course, so many people do?

DR. BERTRAND PICCARD, WORLD-RENOWNED EXPLORER: Well, we always like to have hope. And, you know, my father built five submarines in total, including the one he took to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in 1960, the deepest spot on earth. And as a child, I was looking at him going for diving and he made more than 2,000 dives. And I was always afraid that he would not come back.

[08:45:00]

So, he was always explaining me all the safety measures that have to be implemented to have a safe dive.

And for this, of course, it comes all to my mind when I am looking at this problem today with the Titan submersible. The first thing is, when you go down, if you lose communication, you come back up immediately. If you have a technical problem, you have ultimately the safety ballast, the weight that has been dropped so the submarine comes back to the surface immediately. And this is what makes me really worry about the situation of the Titan submersible is that the contact was lost during the dive, before it touched the bottom, and the submersible did not come back up automatically to the surface.

And this is something really worrying. It's not like if it's disappeared on the bottom because on the bottom it can be stuck in a rope, in a cable, whatever, and can be rescued by another submarine. But in this case, I'm really afraid.

HARLOW: And what makes you so afraid that it got stuck somewhere in the middle? And we understand there are seven different ways that this sub could have resurfaced beyond even dropping ballasts, as you mentioned. So, what makes you so concerned that it's stuck in the middle somewhere?

PICCARD: I don't think it's stuck in the middle. I think something really bad happened on the technical side and it probably drop -- sunk to - sunk to the bottom. And in this case it cannot go back automatically by itself.

So, was there a problem with the porthole (ph)? Was it a problem with the pressure? Was it a problem with a valve? But if a submersible doesn't go back to the surface on its self - on its own, it's really that there is a deep problem.

Now, the hope is that it's only a technical communication problem. The submersible is on the bottom, about 4,000 meters. People are still alive. And then maybe they can get rescued by another submarine. But it doesn't appear to be so good. I'm really afraid. If it was my father's situation, I would really be worried.

But on the other side, my father always had all the systems to surface automatically if there was a problem.

BLACKWELL: Bertrand, if they find it, and again there are 24 hours left, estimate, of breathable air, what's your degree of confidence that they'll be able to pull it to the surface in time to open the vessel?

PICCARD: In this case, they need another submersible. I don't see how they can bring a cable this deep with a robot. They need another submersible with an artificial arm that can tie the submarine to the other one and then they would surface together. That would be my hope. And I remember my father telling me that he always had enough oxygen

onboard as a reserve to be able to wait for another submersible to be transported, maybe air or by truck, to arrive to the spot, dive and rescue him. So, this is the only thing we can - we can hope. But the situation is really worrying. It's maybe - maybe a big problem on the way down and in this case the submersible may be in the -- in several pieces. It may have imploded.

HARLOW: Dr. Piccard, thank you so much for helping us better understand what could be happening here. Appreciate it.

PICCARD: Yes. And let's pray because it's a sad situation.

HARLOW: Let's pray.

BLACKWELL: Yes, certainly will. Thank you.

Home construction surged in May by the fastest pace in more than a year. What's behind it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:53:03]

BLACKWELL: U.S. home construction surged in May by the fastest pace in more than a year as builders ramped up activity in both single-family and especially multifamily homes.

CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten is here with this morning's number.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Hello.

BLACKWELL: Hello.

ENTEN: This morning's number is, if we can -- there we go, 58,500, because that's how - construction started in May on 58,500 private housing structures with at least five units or more. That is the most in a month in 37 years. Your apartment buildings, your condos, your co-ops. And here is what is so interesting to me. Take a look here. The share that five plus unit homes make up of all new home construction, this year it is 38 percent. That is up from 34 percent in 2022, 29 percent in 2021, 2020 it was 27 percent. At the rock bottom it was 10 percent. This is the highest number that the five plus unit homes make up of new home construction since, get this, 1973. So it is the highest in 50 years, guys.

BLACKWELL: Wow.

HARLOW: Multifamily homes getting more popular, too?

ENTEN: Yes, that is what this is. This is the multifamily homes that are becoming more popular. Your apartment buildings, your condos, et cetera. And, you know, why is this happening? Why are people choosing these multifamily homes, these apartment buildings, these condos over say your single-unit homes? Number one, it's a safer investment for builders. Remember the 2008

crash, right? You had all those homes that were just sitting there.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Yes.

ENTEN: Also, your one-unit houses remain very expensive for buyers. And Americans notice that, right. Because Americans who say now is a good time to buy a house, get that - get this, the number is just 21 percent. That is way down from 2022 when it was 30 percent. Look where it was back in 2003, it was 81 percent. This is, in fact, the lowest number that Gallup has reported since 1978.

[08:55:02]

HARLOW: Well, here people could get homes at zero - like zero down. And here you had really low interest rates.

ENTEN: That's right. Now the interest rates are way through the roof. It's just not a good time. And the amount of single-unit houses, there's just not that many on the market.

HARLOW: You shouldn't touch Harry's screen, because, look at that.

BLACKWELL: And then I mess it up.

ENTEN: Watch this. Watch this. Whoop.

BLACKWELL: Oh.

HARLOW: Thank you, Harry Enten.

BLACKWELL: It's magic.

ENTEN: I know.

HARLOW: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Poppy is so excited about this "Morning Moment" that she didn't think she could contain herself, so she's allowing me to read it. So, here it goes.

HARLOW: Things that I don't want to read.

BLACKWELL: All right. I'll do it. You've heard of counting sheep, how about goats?

[09:00:02]

About 40 goats casually walk into a new neighborhood. This is near McKinney, Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They ate a little bit from everybody's yard all the way around the circle here. In fact, one of the guys just on two legs eating my tree. It was pretty - pretty wild.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: We're told the goats broke from a larger herd grazing nearby to help with the fire season. They were eventually reunited. So --

HARLOW: What our viewers couldn't hear is the camera crew is making goat sounds behind the camera.

BLACKWELL: Yes, probably shouldn't do that.

HARLOW: I love them.

BLACKWELL: It's been good to be with you.

HARLOW: Good to be with you. Thanks for reading about the goats. Easy trip back to Atlanta. People will see you this weekend, right?

BLACKWELL: Thank you. I will wear my seatbelt. I'll be back in my seat on Saturday.

HARLOW: "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" is now.