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Secret Service Wraps Investigation; Lisa Marie Presley's Cause of Death; Pete Buttigieg is Interviewed about Weather Delays. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired July 14, 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]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: For sharing your perspective in this quickly unfolding situation.

REP. KATHERINE CLARK (D-MA): Thank you.

BROWN: Appreciate it.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we're learning more about singer Lisa Marie Presley's cause of death. New details from the autopsy and what she complained about moments before she passed. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MATTINGLY: You are looking live at the White House. A beautiful day in Washington, D.C. The White House, of course, says (ph) the Secret Service has wrapped up its investigation into a small bag of cocaine found inside the West Wing. The agency said after combing through security systems, and indexing several hundred individuals, it has zero suspects.

CNN White House reporter Priscilla Alvarez is live for us at the -- on the North Lawn this morning.

Priscilla, how is this possible? Tell -- from our reporting, from CNN's reporting, Jeremy Diamond, you've been doing great reporting on this, how could they not have any suspects? It's the White House.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Phil. And that's really the big question and has been the question over the last several days. But, look, a source familiar with the investigation told me that at least in part the problem was that there wasn't a camera trained directly on these cubbies where this small bag of cocaine was left.

[08:35:03]

There was surveillance everywhere else, but just not trained on that. So that just immediately made it difficult because they didn't have the surveillance they needed in that one particular area. But as you noted, Secret Service, they combed through the footage they did have. They also looked at the individuals who had come through that part of the White House, a very traveled part of the White House, in the days preceding the discovery. And they also did the DNA fingerprinting, but the FBI lab results were inconclusive.

Now, in their statement, the Secret Service said that at this time the Secret Service investigation is closed due to a lack of physical evidence. But investigators also couldn't quite determine when that bag of cocaine was left. What day and what time. So, still a lot of questions here and ones that we just may never get the answers to.

Phil.

MATTINGLY: All right, it is still a mystery.

Great reporting, Priscilla Alvarez, from the White House. Thank you.

Well, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will join us live as extreme weather and staffing shortage contribute to airline travel delays and cancellations. His reaction. What the administration is doing, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Singer Lisa Marie Presley's cause of death just revealed. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, the 54-year-old died from complications from a prior weight loss surgery. The report says it was, quote, a small bowel obstruction caused by scar tissue that developed after a previous bariatric surgery years ago. The manner of death is natural.

Joining us now is CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

So, really interested in what you have to say about this because hearing of someone dying of obstruction in the small intestine, that might sound surprising, but this was apparently a side effect from this kind of weight loss surgery.

[08:40:12]

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. So there's parts of this story that make a lot of sense, and parts that are a little bit more unusual.

What they're describing when they say that there was this previous operation that led to this, anytime someone has an operation on the abdomen, inside the belly, you can develop scar tissue. It's called adhesions. Think of that like spiderwebs that sort of develop and some of those spiderwebs can start to constrict parts of the intestines. Now, this takes place over time. Her previous operation was years ago.

Over time, it might actually compress parts of the intestine to the point where they become obstructed, they can become strangulated. You can't - they're blocked, essentially. You're not getting food through, but also there's not enough blood flow. That all happens. We know that that can happen and sometimes people have off and on pain for some time.

What is unusual, though, is that it sounds like maybe she had had pain off and on, but the morning of she was complaining of some pain and then was found unresponsive at her home, taken to the hospital, where she subsequently died. That was a rapid -- very rapid time course. And that's a bit unusual. Usually if someone is in the hospital with this sort of thing, they can even go back in and operate, do something to relieve that blockage. But she had progressed so far, it sounds like, by the time she got to the hospital, that she passed away.

So, it can happen, but the -- these blockages as a result of scar tissue, but the idea that they lead to death, especially that quickly, that was more unusual. So it's really sad, the situation that unfolded there.

MATTINGLY: You know, Sanjay, the report also listed therapeutic and not dangerous levels of oxycontin. Can medications like that play a role in something like this?

GUPTA: Yes, you know, it's interesting because I think when someone has -- dies quickly, you know, you think, did a medication lead to that, did it interfere with their absolutely to breathe on their own. That's not the case here it sounds like from the report.

Two ways that it might still contribute though. One is that what I just described earlier can be painful. And opioids, other medications can mask that pain. Someone may go to the hospital a it later as a result.

And the second thing is, opioids can also further slow down your intestines. So, a blockage that was already unfolding could have been made worse. But the idea that the opioids themselves led to the death, they're saying that did not happen here.

BROWN: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, really sad. Thank you.

GUPTA: I know.

BROWN: Well, dangerous heatwaves now affecting much of the U.S. What are the impacts of our travel and infrastructure? Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:46:57]

MATTINGLY: Well, as the climate warms, you can expect more flight delays from bad weather. That's according to United's CEO Scott Kirby. Here's what he said this week about fight delays or, as he calls them, irregular operations events.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT KIRBY, CEO, UNITED AIRLINES: I also think irregular operations events are, you know, going to be more likely to occur as the climate warms. More heat in the atmosphere, thermodynamics 101, we're going to have more thunderstorms.

There's not much you can do with the thunderstorm. You're going to cancel a lot of flights when a thunderstorm happens. If you can't depart the airport, you can't depart the airport. That's not going to change. But what you can focus on is the recovery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Well, earlier this week, intense rainstorms inundated the northeast turning streets into rivers. The severe weather also causing thousands of flight delays and cancellations on top of that. The air travel system doesn't seem to have enough bodies to deal with the disruptions.

Joining us now is Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Mr. Secretary, thanks for your time.

I want to start with what Kirby called the irregular operations events. If climate change is clearly only getting worse and we're seeing it across the country right now, what can the administration do, what can airlines do to address something that doesn't seem to be going away or lessening anytime soon?

PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Well, there's no escaping the fact that when you have more severe weather events, both been happening more often and them getting more severe, that's going to affect every form of transportation. We're assessing what those northeast floods have been doing to the roads in New York state and in particular in Vermont. And of course that's going to affect flight operations. So, there's - there's a reality in front of us that, you know, we're doing everything we can in the long run, fight against climate change, to stop this from getting any worse than it has already gotten.

We also have to face the reality at hand. That's why, for the first time ever, under President Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law, we have billions of dollars in a fund that is specifically for resilience. So, with a road it means, if a road is getting washed out annually by what used to be considered a 1,000-year flood, instead of putting it back the same way it was year after year, let's move it, let's redesign it, let's make it safer and more resistant to floods or droughts, wildfires or whatever the biggest threat is. But on the aviation side, too, we have to prepare for this.

Now, the other remark that he made that I agree with is, you can't control what the weather is going to be. You have to work on everything you can control about how quickly the system will recover. And I will say that I've been struck by the improvements compared to one year ago that we've seen in the national airspace where we had dramatic storms and disruptions hitting our major hubs, but the system recovering in a way that we would not have seen a year ago.

Today, cancellations are below 2 percent and we've seen them come back to that more quickly than they would have a year ago in terms of dealing with those severe thunderstorms. And that's part of what we're closely watching, making sure that airlines are positioning themselves to recover. And then making sure we're doing everything we can on the department side and FAA side to make the system for flexible.

MATTINGLY: Right. I do want to ask you about the CEO himself. He had some very strong words for the FAA during the meltdown late in June when I think United canceled around 3,000 flights.

[08:50:07]

This week he called the FAA particularly helpful and the air traffic controllers heroic. Did you have anything to do with that shift in tone?

BUTTIGIEG: Well, certainly we have worked to make sure that there is excellent communication between the FAA and all of the airlines. And, look, we have a complicated relationship with the airlines, right? We are often coming down on them hard when it comes to customer protection, at the very same time that we're working side by side with them to try to make sure that flight operations are going well. We are their regulator from a safety perspective, as well as a competition perspective. But we're also working to make sure the U.S. aviation sector, its interests are being protected in international markets.

So, look, there's always going to be a sometimes very intense push- pull between us and the airlines. But as a regulator, first and foremost, we're going to focus on making sure that passengers are protected. And as a general rule, I think that when we have good, strong rules for the airlines, the airline sector ultimately benefits, too, because the public is more confident in what they're getting when they buy that ticket.

MATTINGLY: Right. Do you believe that airlines are overscheduled at this point?

BUTTIGIEG: Well, let me say this, any time we see evidence that an airlines is deliberately or knowingly scheduling flights that they can't realistically serve, we're going to investigate and we could take action to respond to that, including punitive action.

MATTINGLY: Right.

BUTTIGIEG: We are concerned about that. We have some open investigations right now. But I will say, the airlines are scheduling more conservatively than they were before. That's one of the things I pushed them for - pushed them on last year when even on so-called blue sky days, where weather wasn't much of a factor, you're seeing all these delays and cancellations that were completely unacceptable.

They've got to have schedules that they can serve with the assets that they have. If they don't, that's obviously unfair to passengers who get left in the lurch and it could also be an indication of an unfair competitive practice. In other words, if an airline is trying to gain market share by selling a schedule that they can't actually back up in a particular route pair, that's a competition issue and that's another reason why, as a regulator, we're watching very closely. MATTINGLY: Can I ask you -- I want to get to Bidenomics and the

economy in a second, but I do have one final question for you on airline travel. The idea of pilot shortages has been a significant issue. There are a couple proposals on Capitol Hill right now in the FAA authorization bill. One to increase the retirement age for pilots I think from 65 to 67. There's also, I think, proposals floating around about easing the number of hours that would need to be flown to some degree. Do you support those? Are you in favor of them right now?

BUTTIGIEG: Look, this is, right now, in the middle of complex and sensitive negotiations on Capitol Hill. But the bottom line I'll say is that anything that emerges needs to put safety first. And we can look at a lot of different strategies and policies, but we can't do anything that would weaken safety for passengers, for airlines. That's always going to be our top priority as a department.

MATTINGLY: Can I ask you, talking about the economics issue, you've been one of the kind of leading voices for the administration on what is now firmly referred to as Bidenomics to some degree. It's been a good couple weeks on that front data wise. But I wanted to ask you about something JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in an interview with "The Economist." Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think Bidenomics has been a success?

JAMIE DIMON, CEO, JP MORGAN CHASE: God, it's a tough question to answer.

It shouldn't be political. It should be purely economic.

And also the fiscal spending, $5 trillion of excess fiscal spending over two years, some to counter Covid, but some is far more in excess that is causing the inflation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: He was nuanced in terms of the issues that he took with some of the approaches that you guys have taken. But I think it was broadly suspect of the overarching theory of the case. What's your response to that?

BUTTIGIEG: Well, look at the numbers and look at where we are. You know, it's pretty rare to have inflation under 4 percent and unemployment under 4 percent at the same time. As a matter of fact, that's extraordinary, especially where you consider where we've come from. Under President Biden's leadership, more than 13 million jobs created. That's never happened under any president in anything close to this period of time.

And something that matters a lot to me coming from the industrial Midwest, a lot of those were manufacturing jobs. The kinds of jobs we used to be exporting overseas. You know, I've got a lot of respect for him as a business leader. But, remember, one of the core elements of Bidenomics is putting a

focus on the middle class and working people. Making sure that the economy grows from the bottom up and the middle out. And that's, obviously, not always the same priority you're going to see in the investment banking community versus how important that is and how central that is to what President Biden in this administration are about.

MATTINGLY: Right.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, of course we were running up against the end of this hour. I could talked to you about this stuff for a while. Thank you very much, sir. Appreciate it.

[08:55:00]

BUTTIGIEG: Thank you. Good to be with you.

BROWN: Up next, Hollywood's biggest labor fight in decades. Actors now going to the picket lines and joining writers in an historic strike. The impact on Hollywood films ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: The father of a girl with cerebral palsy making it his mission to help people with disabilities get moving. Meet CNN hero John Watson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN WATSON, CNN HERO: We want to lead people to a lifetime of fitness.

Safety's first, but we want them to have fun. We want them to want to do it.

When we connect with them on that level, they'll show up to exercise.

We do Pilates, yoga, dance. We have a wide range of abilities. Somebody they may have limited movement, we specifically try to get them to move to how they can.

We all want to be part of something. They just don't get the opportunity that often. We create a sense of pride, belonging and love.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: To see John's full story and nominate your own CNN hero, go to cnnheroes.com.

MATTINGLY: Well, new this morning, India just launched a mission to the moon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Four, three, two, one, zero, plus 20 seconds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Liftoff normal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here we have a majestic liftoff of the -

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:00:01]

MATTINGLY: It's India's second attempt at executing a controlled landing of a spacecraft on the moon. And if successful will make India only the fourth country to do so.

Happy Friday. Thanks for hanging out this week.

BROWN: Happy Friday. We made it.

MATTINGLY: Yes.

BROWN: It was fun. It was great to be with all of you. Thank you for bringing us into your living rooms, your bedrooms this week. It's been a lot of fun for us.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.