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Scorching Temperatures Strain Texas Power Grid; Luttig Calls GOP Spineless; NYC Overhauls Reading Curriculum. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired June 26, 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]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Roughly three miles long. Now the funnel cloud ripped through what looks like apartment homes. Officials say at least 75 homes are damaged and the storm took down an apartment complex that was under construction. Multiple customers are now without power as responders are searching for victims and clearing trees from the roads. Officials have set up an emergency shelter at a local middle school for those that need assistance.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, nearly 40 million people across the south are facing oppressive heat that officials warn will become increasingly dangerous and maybe deadly. Texas could see heat indices exceeding 120 degrees today. Now officials are scrambling as the punishing heat is putting unprecedented strain on the state's power grid.

Rosa Flores is live outside a cooling center in Houston.

Rosa, you were with us last week talking about this excessive heat, and it just continues.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, and we're expecting more of it all this week. Triple digits here in the state of Texas. But let me start here in Houston, because the highs today are expected at 101 with a heat index between 108 and 115. Now, that's the feels-like temperature. That includes and factors in the humidity. That's why it feels so oppressive here in Houston.

But Houston is not alone. Take a look across the state. Cities like Dallas, Ft. Worth, San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi, also in the triple digits, all week long. Corpus Christi with a heat index of 116.

Now, all of this has prompted cities across the state to open cooling centers, like the one that you see behind me here in the city of Houston. Now, this gives a little reprieve to individuals who don't have access to air conditioning during the day. It gives them a few hours where they can come into these centers and cool off.

All of this, of course, tests the power grid here in the state of Texas, which is unique because it's not connected to the rest of the country. ERCOT, the operator of the electric grid, issuing a weather watch that doesn't expire until Friday. So, it goes through Friday. I talked to the expert who predicted the grid failure back in 2021

here in the state of Texas, and he says that based on what he's looking at now, the power grid is expected to hold this week, given these triple-digit temperatures, but he says that Texas is not out of the woods.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED HIRS, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS: Texans have not spent enough money to build new generation, really, over the last 20 years. And with the growing population, the growing economy, it really has been just a matter of time before we get tapped out on days when we really, desperately need the electricity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Now, Poppy, to his point about so many people moving to the state of Texas, and, you know, the state of Texas pats itself on the back because everybody wants to move to Texas. But you've got to think about it this way. All of these individuals that are moving to Texas, they don't pack their infrastructure, they don't pack their power grid, they don't pack their schools, they don't pack their roads. It's up to Texas to invest in these individuals. And that's the point from this expert, is that Texas needs to do more to fortify and also to make sure that the power grid is resilient for all those people that are moving to Texas.

Poppy.

HARLOW: Absolutely. For safety, especially in temperatures like this.

Rosa Flores, thank you.

MATTINGLY: All right, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she of 18 terms in Congress, calling for term limits for Supreme Court justices.

HARLOW: Plus, spineless. That's what a prominent conservative retired federal judge is calling his party, the Republican Party, in a scathing rebuke of Donald Trump. That's ahead.

Good point on the terms.

MATTINGLY: Well, I just felt like it was a valid one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:37:38]

MATTINGLY: Well, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi putting Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas on blast after the court's credibility has been called into question. Pelosi was interviewed by a former White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, following news reports that revealed Alito and Thomas received lavish gifts and luxurious trips that they failed to disclose.

Here's what she said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): It's shameful how Thomas -- Justice Thomas and Justice Alito have been so cavalier about their violations of what would be expected of a justice of the Supreme Court. The president formed a commission. They did not recommend expansion of the court. That shouldn't be the end of it. But there certainly should be term limits. There certainly should be term limits. And if nothing else, there should be some ethical rules that would be followed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Now, Psaki also pointed out that a recent Quinnipiac poll found that just 30 percent of voters approve of the court. To that Pelosi, who represents Congress, which has an even lower approval rating, responded, that seems high.

HARLOW: Well, a stunning repudiation of the Republican Party by a very prominent lifelong Republican. Former federal judge, Michael Luttig, who was once named by Senator Ted Cruz as an ideal Supreme Court nominee, is blasting his party for support of former President Trump. Here's what he writes in "The New York Times." Quote, the Republicans' spineless support for the past two years convinced Mr. Trump of his political immortality, giving him the assurance that he could purloin some of the nation's most sensitive national security secrets upon leaving the White House and preposterously insist that they were his to do with as he wished, all without facing political consequences.

Now, Luttig also testified last summer, you 'll remember, very prominently in the January 6th hearings.

Adam Kinzinger back with us. Obviously, a key part of those hearings and that investigation. He joins us. Also senior contributor to "Axios," Margaret Talev.

Good morning. Thank you, guys, very much for being here.

MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, "AXIOS": Good morning.

HARLOW: I've been wanting to talk to you about all this all morning -

ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Yes.

HARLOW: Because I admire Luttig throughout all of this willingness to speak out, speak against the party that is so critical and so core to him because of what he has seen. The fact that he wrote this in "The Times," in this moment, what did you make of it?

KINZINGER: I mean it's huge. Look, Judge Luttig is -- I've gotten know him since the hearings.

HARLOW: Yes.

KINZINGER: He's a very honorable man. He is very pained by what the party has become.

[08:40:04]

As I am. I mean this is a party we grew up thinking, you know, it was committed to the rule of law, it's all about America. And it's turned into this American-first nationalism. The rule of law, so far as it can be used to our advantage. So, I thought it was a scathing, in a very good way, editorial. And it's putting into focus the fact that as Republicans, and particularly if -- as current members of Congress, or any office that takes an oath to the Constitution of the United States, I mean if you, in the quiet of your room, looking in the mirror, can say to yourself that you don't think that Donald Trump is violating the oath, you don't think supporting him is violating the oath, then more power to you. But I think the vast majority of these people know that this is destructive for democracy. And Judge Luttig, who is about as conservative as it comes -

HARLOW: Right.

KINZINGER: About as much of a conservative judicial person as it comes, is - is willing to put that all on the line.

HARLOW: Margaret, to that point, I think one of the - I think fascinating elements, to be frank, over the last six years, but certainly over the course of the last couple of weeks and months is, when you talk to a lot of Republicans, behind the scenes they will acknowledge what Judge Luttig said in his op-ed, what Congressman Kinzinger has said publicly now and while he was still in Congress, but they don't come out and say it publicly. Do you believe that that holds and that is what leads the former president to once again be the Republican nominee?

TALEV: Well, Phil, it's a really important question because I think at the beginning of Donald Trump's presidency, or even in the lead-up to that first election of his, that may have been true. But now you're just seeing that the core of the GOP base is constituted really differently. So, I think what is Judge Luttig trying to accomplish here? It is not to change the hearts and minds of the masses of the new base of the Republican Party, it's to influence the GOP primary. It is to take those institutionalist Republicans who were kind of attracted to the party for the Reagan and Bush years, and to say, it's not your Republican Party anymore. It is to shape the primary or if Donald Trump were to be the nominee again, to shape the general election.

HARLOW: Congressman Kinzinger, while we have you, I want to ask you about something else that I think is really interesting and it follows on what we've been talking about in terms of what happened in Russia this weekend. And that is, what happens now with the war on Ukraine? And Phil brought up earlier the question of asking Congress for more -- the Republican-led House for more money. And is that going to be challenging? Are they going to get the money? You think the Biden administration could to do something a little bit different that would really help. What?

KINZINGER: Yes. So, I think the Biden administration needs to do a better job laying out to the American public, first off, the reason for us supporting Ukraine over and over. Don't just rely on surrogates.

But, secondly, talk about what is actually made up in this aid package. I think there's a lot of perception, and I dealt with it in talking about foreign aid as a congressman, there's a lot of perception that we're just writing a giant check, we're just giving it to Ukraine and saying, good luck. The reality is, a lot of that money is a value we assess to equipment that we're actually getting ready to rotate out of our stocks. It's a value to replace that equipment. Some of it is a value put on putting troops on Europe. We have a cost on that, as well. And some of it is money that we give to Ukraine to spend on American weaponry as they need to -- made by Americans, you know. And so they need to do a better job of explaining that this $100-some-billion really isn't quite that because, again, here's some old stocks of weapons we have, including HIMARS. We're giving them to them, but we have to, according to Congress, put a value on that, and that's where some of that money comes from.

MATTINGLY: Margaret, I do want to ask you about the sound we played right before we brought you guys in from former Speaker Pelosi going after the justices of the Supreme Court. Look, it has become a very hot-button political issue. There's no question about that. On both sides of the aisle. It has been that way for several years now.

When you hear Pelosi say things like term limits, say things like their approval rating is probably much lower than it is, what's your view where the court actually sits in terms of an institution right now?

TALEV: I think the court is an extremely weak institution. Every institution in America has declined in terms of people's trust. But the Supreme Court, historically, is supposed to transcend all of that. And, of course, you can imagine the trouble with term limits is, you could argue that it would make things better. It also might completely further politicize the Supreme Court. Every institution in America is weakened right now. The Supreme Court was supposed to be one of those institutions like the military or, you know, the church, that binds people together when everything else unravels. When you don't have that, it just shows you how polarized, how really deeply polarized the country is, and how difficult it is to pull Americans together about ideas -- broad ideas of right and wrong, justice, you know, everything from Russia to civil rights back at home.

[08:45:00]

HARLOW: Yes. It's notable because it's the key thing that the chief justice, John Roberts, said since he came on the court, that he didn't want was a perception of a politicized court. Remember, famously, this is not a Trump -- these are not Trump justices, these are not Obama justices. And now that's what's most Americans think of it.

Thank you, Margaret.

Thank you, Adam Kinzinger -- Congressman Kinzinger. We appreciate it.

TALEV: Thanks, guys.

MATTINGLY: Thanks, guys.

Well, hit after hit after hit. I know Poppy was watching. The Florida Gators making history at the College World Series.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two-2 and Florida's got 24 runs in this game. The most ever in a College World Series game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Well, tomorrow, students in the nation's largest school district, right here in New York City, will attend their last day of school for the year. It comes after city officials said more than half of students in third through eighth grade cannot read at proficient levels.

[08:50:02]

So, in response, the district is getting ready to overhaul the school's reading programs starting next year.

Our national correspondent Athena Jones, who covers education so well and so importantly for this program, and I really appreciate it.

You got in the schools with the kids, with the teachers.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, you know, this is a real concern. We reported earlier this year that just one in three fourth graders nationwide was at or above proficiency in reading. And as you just mentioned, in New York City the numbers are much worse with more than half of third through eighth graders not proficient. That is why New York City is changing the way children are taught to read and they're using a new curricula starting next year and they're providing extra help for some of the most vulnerable students.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (voice over): At Brooklyn Gardens Elementary School in east New York, kids who are falling behind in reading get extra help.

SASHA BARNETT, BRAINTRUST TUTOR: Can you tell me, Jaidyn (ph)?

JAIDYN JACOBS, STUDENT: Sh.

BARNETT: Sh, What sound does s make?

JACOBS: Shhhh.

BARNETT: Oh, you already put them together.

JONES: Like six-year-old Jaidyn Jacobs.

BARNETT: Jaidyn's word is cup. JACOBS: Cup?

BARNETT: Uh-huh.

JACOBS: C-u-p.

JONES: The first grader began the school year reading at a kindergarten level. Then the school launched a high-impact tutoring program in January.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How old are you, Jaidyn?

BARNETT: I'm older.

JACOBS: Six.

JONES: Three times a week Jaidyn meets in a small group with a tutor from Braintrust, a company that relies on the science of reading, using evidence-based methods, like teaching kids to sound out word and letter combinations.

BARNETT: I would like you, right here, to write the word "wish."

Got three?

JACOBS: Done.

JONES: His reading scores have risen some 60 percent, and he's now at grade level.

JACOBS: And I like reading because like -- because that's my thing. I like reading comic books, regular books and hard books, but not (INAUDIBLE). (INAUDIBLE) have a lot of words. Probably when I'm 13, I could read those big books.

JONES: With new skills has come new confidence.

NANCY EDWARDS, JAIDYN'S MOTHER: His excitement for school is phenomenal. He loves to come to school. As he's reading, he's able to decode words, right? And I'm like, how did you know that? He says, oh, I know. So, he'll say, mommy, I could do that. I learned this in school.

JONES: City officials say 51 percent of New York elementary students are not reading proficiently. And the problem is worse for children of color, with 63 percent of Latino students and 64 percent of black students not proficient. So, New York City Public Schools are changing the way reading is taught across the city, ditching less effective methods, like guessing words based on the context of a sentence.

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY: This is the beginning of something new.

JONES: In the most significant overhaul since the early 2000s, the NYC Reads Program will standardize instruction, requiring schools to choose one of three approved curricula. The goal, to ensure that every child is on grade level no later than third grade.

JASON BORGES, NYC EXEC. DIR. OF LITERACY AND ACADEMIC INTERVENTION SERVICES: Reading is everything. Literacy is everything. And it's not just reading. It's writing. It's also language development.

JONES: It's a massive undertaking for the nation's largest school system with over a million students across more than 1,800 schools. About half the city's 32 districts will begin the new curricula this fall, the other half in fall 2024.

But Brooklyn Gardens has gotten a head start. It began implementing one of the new reading curricula just before the pandemic. That's because this majority black and Latino school is in a district deemed in need of improvement. Many students' families are struggling economically, nearly 30 percent live in temporary housing and the school qualifies for federal funding to help with interventions like tutoring so the most vulnerable children don't fall further behind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because a lot of our students are not on grade level, we have a curriculum that supports students in reading and writing. Every single student who is a part of this program made progress.

JONES: One of Braintrust's founders says more cities and states should follow New York's lead on overhauling reading instruction and providing extra support to students who need it.

JEN MENDELSOHN, CO-FOUNDER, BRAINTRUST TUTORS: The important aspect right now is to recognize what does work and double down. So, a lot of states are moving towards the science of reading, but not fast enough.

I think when the biggest district in the country focuses on the science of reading and correlates that to the data and the results of literacy, that is a north star for every other city to take notice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: So, this is really important work, important changes that are happening. And this is amid more concerning news about learning loss due to the pandemic. We learned from the nation's report card just last week it found that between this school year and the 2019-2020 school year, student test scores fell in reading by four points. That is on top of a seven-point decline over the last decade. U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has called this learning loss the devastating impact of the pandemic, and the administration says it's going to take years of effort and investment to fix this and to catch all these kids up.

[08:55:06]

And it's just so important.

HARLOW: I'm so glad you are staying on this reporting. Bring us more as you have it. Athena, thank you. It was encouraging to see.

MATTINGLY: All right, for your "Morning Moment," which Poppy's been rooting for.

HARLOW: My idea.

MATTINGLY: The College World Series between Florida and LSU will come down to a winner take all game three tonight after last night's absolute beat down at the hands of Florida batters. Now, following a heartbreaking loss in extra innings in game one, the Gators pretty much rewrote the entire Omaha record book on the way to a 24-4 blowout, evening the series at one game apiece. That's the most runs ever scored in a College World Series game.

Florida also tied the record for the most hits with 23. Six of those hits were home runs. The biggest coming right there, from sophomore outfielder Ty Evans with that grand slam in the third innings. It's the first time that's ever happened in the finals.

And the Gators never really looked back after that. Twenty run margin of victory. Tied for the second largest at the event. With a win tonight, Florida can win their first national title since 2017. LSU, meantime, has a chance to claim the school's seventh title since 2009.

HARLOW: You almost made it, right?

MATTINGLY: Your thoughts?

HARLOW: Didn't you --

MATTINGLY: We lost in the super regionals. Why are you trying to make me feel like it was -

HARLOW: I didn't even know what this -- when he told Congressman Kinzinger he lost in the super regionals, Congressman Kinzinger said, that just means you didn't go.

MATTINGLY: Not wrong.

HARLOW: Sorry.

MATTINGLY: He's not wrong. Thanks for that.

HARLOW: Congrats to Florida.

MATTINGLY: They've got to play game three. We've got to go.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:00:00]