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CNN This Morning

Biden Slams Trump And His Allies For Calling The Hush Money Verdict Rigged; Biden Lays Out 3-Phase Cease-Fire Plan To End Gaza War; Boeing's Starliner Capsule Set For Launch Of First Crewed Space Flight; Michelle Obama's Mother Marian Robinson Dies At Age 86; Deputy Police Officer Who Killed Airman Roger Fortson Fired; Families Of Those Who Died In Boeing Crashes Demand Justice. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired June 01, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:37]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to CNN This Morning. It is Saturday, June 1, a brand new month. We are flying through 2024. Good to have you with us. I'm Victor Blackwell.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Admiral Walker. Here's what we're working on for you this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: It was a rigged trial.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Is reckless, is dangerous. It's irresponsible. For anyone to say this was rigged just because they don't like the verdict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Two very different takes on former President Donald Trump's historic conviction. He says the hush money trial was rigged while President Biden says it's reckless for him to claim that and now the big question will Trump serve jail time we'll talk to our legal and political analysts ahead.

BLACKWELL: President Biden laid out a three-phase proposal for peace in the Israel Hamas war as Israeli forces pushed deeper into Rafah.

WALKER: And blasting into history. For the first time humans will fly aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, but will have finally the all systems go after some previous delays.

BLACKWELL: Pride Month kicks off today we'll talk to an organizer of a coalition of drag artists fighting the rise of anti LGBTQ rhetoric across the country.

Reckless, dangerous, irresponsible. That's how President Biden characterize Donald Trump's claim that his 34-count conviction amounts to a political witch hunt orchestrated by his chief political rival. In fact, the case was, as Biden noted, the President noted, brought rather by the state of New York and not the federal government. Those comments marked the first time the President directly addressed his predecessor's historic conviction.

WALKER: But Trump now a newly convicted felon continues to fund raise off his falsehoods including claiming that he is quote a political prisoner. Now last night, his campaign claimed it's raised nearly $53 million in the wake of the verdict, adding that 1/3 of those donors are new. CNN's Kristen Holmes has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A defiant Donald Trump lashing out Friday, a day after a New York jury found him guilty on all 34 counts and his criminal hush money trial.

TRUMP: We're going to fight. I'm wired in such a way that a lot of people would have gotten away a long time ago.

HOLMES: Trump air grievances with the trial and leveled attacks at the prosecutor and the presiding judge Juan Merchan.

TRUMP: It was a rig trial. We wanted a venue change where we could have a fair trial. We didn't get it. We wanted to judge change. We wanted to judge it wasn't conflicted. And obviously he didn't do that.

HOLMES (voice-over): Even as the former president remains under a gag order that blocks them from speaking out about witnesses, jurors and others closely tied to the case, Trump singled out ex-attorney Michael Cohen, a key witness in the case without using his name.

TRUMP: I'm not allowed to use his name because of the gag order. But, you know, he's a sleazebag. Everybody knows that, it took me a while to find out. But he was effective. He did work. But he wasn't a fixer. He was a lawyer.

HOLMES (voice-over): In a statement to CNN, Cohen called Trump's remarks a quote crazy avalanche of broken brain word manure.

TRUMP: No presidential candidates ever been under a gag order before. I'm under a gag order. Nasty gag order. Think of it I'm the leading candidate.

HOLMES (voice-over): Trump also claimed Friday he wanted to testify in the trial that suggested one of his lawyers encouraged him not to do so.

TRUMP: But now I would have testified I wanted to testify. The theory is you never testify because as soon as you test for anybody, if it were George Washington don't testify because they'll get you on something that you said slightly wrong, and then they sue you for perjury.

HOLMES (voice-over): Addressing the verdict at the White House Friday, President Joe Biden warned that efforts by Trump and his allies to undermine the justice system are quote, dangerous.

BIDEN: It's irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don't like the verdict. Justice should be respected. We should never allow anyone to tear it down.

HOLMES (voice-over): Trump's allies and supporters swiftly rally behind the presumptive GOP nominee, with the campaign announcing it had raised more than $34 million dollars in the hours after the verdict.

[06:05:00]

At one point even crashing the fundraising platform used by Trump's campaign, while top Republicans including several vice presidential hopefuls join Trump and criticizing the conviction.

REP. BRYON DONALDS (R-FL): What happened in New York was a travesty of the justice system.

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): This is the weaponization of the justice system against their political opponents.

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH): You cannot say that this trial was anything more than politics masquerading as justice.

HOLMES: And we're just over five months until November, both Biden and Trump are turning their attention to the general election where the voters will make the final judgment on who goes to the White House. Amara and Victor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Kristen Holmes, right outside Trump Tower for us there. Thanks so much. Let's get into all of it. Now with trial attorney Kelly Hyman and CNN political commentator, Errol Louis, he's also the host of Spectrum News, The Big Deal with Errol Louis, good morning to you both.

Kelly, let me start with you. And we heard some of what the former president said there yesterday, how much does what he says in these speeches when he posts on social media influence sentencing on July 11, and what the judge decides to hand down?

KELLY HYMAN, TRIAL ATTORNEY AND LEGAL COMMENTATOR: The judge will consider everything. So ultimately, it's going to be up to the judge to make a determination on what exactly the punishment is, whether the former president should do jail time, whether he should do probation or whether he should pay a fine. So ultimately, it's going to be up to the judge.

Now, some mitigating factors the judge could consider is Trump's age being 77 years old, and also the fact that he's a first time offender, both sides, the state and the defendant will submit memos to the court with the look at and then Trump will also sit for an interview with the probation officer. And they'll ask them questions like what are your job prospects? What is your income, and then ultimately, it'll go back to the judge.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about the politics here, Errol. And we heard in Kristen's package there from some of the President's closest allies and supporters, Congressman Donalds, Senator Vance. But I want to play a little more from Senator Tim Scott there who has offered this full throated endorsement, singing the President's tune about a witch hunt and rig trial. Here's what he said. And then I want your thoughts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT: As an African American, born and raised in the Deep South, who had concerns about our justice system, as it relates to race, I'm now seeing it play out from a partisan perspective. Now, it's not as much black and white as it is red and blue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Draw a comparison from centuries of discrimination and inequity as it relates to race and saying this is the same thing just for Republicans, your thoughts?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, well, for Tim Scott have suddenly discovered injustice is itself a little bit startling for somebody with the level of power that he has. But now it look in this case, it has nothing to do with any kind of institutional long standing injustice, that is a separate question altogether.

The issues that were at stake in this trial, and I don't know if Tim Scott ever set foot in Manhattan criminal court have a prior to anything related to this case. But the reality is that this is a business case. It's a business records case. It's a fraud case, it was an election interference case, it was all of those things. The notion that the system is fundamentally unfair. You know, we're looking for the evidence. Donald Trump says the same thing over and over and over again.

But your viewers should know that these questions were raised early on, and they were handled within the court, within the context of the trial, the questions about bias, the questions about venue, the questions about what evidence could come in. We have a structured system, and to the extent that it didn't work for Donald Trump, I understand him being upset, but to then say that the whole system is wrong, and that this somehow compares to the historic and justices that black folk have had to deal with is really just silly. I mean, it's just -- it's simply not true.

BLACKWELL: Kelly, you mentioned that one of and we've known for some time, one of the options here for the judge is jail time for former President Trump considering the first time offender status and his age, do you think that's possible? It's realistic that the President would be sentenced to jail?

HYMAN: Well, anything is possible. It'll be interesting to see what exactly the states asked for, and potentially they could ask for jail time. And of course, the defendant is going to say, no, there should be no jail time. But the judge is going to look at everything. They're going to look at his other cases as well. The E. Jean Carroll case, they're going to look at, as you stated, what he's done in the past before and consider all that but most likely it'll be probation. It'll be interesting to see if the judge stays the penalty. Why Trump has said that he's going to appeal this case.

BLACKWELL: Does the gag order Kelly matter anymore?

HYMAN: The gag order does matter because the judge still has jurisdiction over the case.

[06:10:00]

Now, the judge can also consider the gag order as well about the violations in his penalty phase as well. But definitely the gag order is definitely in place. And it's also important for the viewers to note that, that Trump once he is sentenced, at that point, he is a convicted felon. So not until he sentenced in July, he'll be a convicted felon.

BLACKWELL: OK, important note there. Errol, let me come to you on the deliberation within the Biden campaign about how aggressively to go after Trump, in this context, whether to call him a criminal whether to call him a convicted felon to use this as a cudgel. What's the risk here for the President, if he goes full on in that direction?

LOUIS: Well, you have to be careful not to fall into the trap of acting as if the White House was somehow involved in this. I mean, one of the biggest falsehoods that keeps getting Trump at it from the Trump side of all of this is this notion that it was all directed from the White House and not handled locally by a locally elected prosecutor, a grand jury of ordinary citizens and a trial jury also involving ordinary citizens.

This is something that is really pernicious. It has -- the notion that it's fundamentally rigged has led to death threats, over 89 death threats against the local prosecutor. It's a very serious situation. And so not just for political reasons, but just from the standpoint of keeping the peace in the streets, not triggering another January 6, which, frankly, Donald Trump has been sort of egging on his supporters telling them to come down and protest at the courthouse. They didn't show up. But you have real concerns about that.

So yes, the White House has to be very, very careful about what they say, why they say it and whether or not they need to, frankly, this is the front page of every newspaper in the country no particular need for the White House to weigh in.

BLACKWELL: All right. We'll see if they continue, as they have been very cautious in this era area. Errol Kelly, thank you.

WALKER: Now President Biden made his strongest statement yet on Israel's war in Gaza. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: It's time to begin this new stage. The hostages to come home for Israel to be secure with a suffering to stop. It's time for this war to end, for the day after to begin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: It's time for this war to end the President said in a Friday address. Israel's three-step plan for a ceasefire is what the President laid out and he said it closely matches Hamas's proposal. He says Hamas is no longer capable of carrying out and attack like the one that started the war.

CNN's Camila DeChalus is joining us now from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where President Biden is spending the weekend. Good morning, Camila. What does this three phase plan entail?

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, that's right, President Biden laid out a three-phase proposal that would allow for Israeli forces to withdraw from some parts of Gaza and would also allow for more hostages and Palestinian prisoners to be released.

Now, Amara, during his speech, Biden made it very clear that he wants the war between Israel and Hamas to immediately end and stress that if it continues, it would only lead to more bloodshed. Take a listen to what he said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: This is truly a decisive moment. As those made their proposal, Hamas needs to take the deal. I've urged leadership in Israel to stand behind this deal. We can't lose this moment. And definite war in pursuit of an unidentified notion of total victory that will not bring hostages home. That will not bring an enduring defeat of Hamas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DECHALUS: But Amara, one really interesting thing to note is that during the speech, Biden didn't call anyone out by name, but he did acknowledge that there are some individuals in Israel who would not support this proposal and would like to see the war and definitely continue.

But he really reiterated that if that happens, it would only lead to more innocent civilian lives being lost and would exacerbate the humanitarian crisis that's going on in Gaza. Amara and Victor, back to you.

WALKER: All right, Camila DeChalus, thank you so much. So the stage is set for a long awaited lift off straight ahead. We are live to Florida ahead of the historic launch at the Boeing Starliner crew flight test mission to the International Space Station.

BLACKWELL: Plus, the Minneapolis Police Department is mourning one of their own shooter ambushed an officer while he was providing medical care. You're going to hear that radio call for help, later.

WALKER: And the new tributes pouring in for a former First Lady Michelle Obama's mother, who passed away at 86.

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[06:19:32]

BLACKWELL: And just about six hours, we could see the big test of Boeing's latest spacecraft, the Boeing Starliner that's the name of it scheduled to launch its first crewed voyage today from Cape Canaveral with two veteran NASA astronauts on board.

WALKER: It will take more than 24 hours for it to reach the International Space Station and this plant launch comes after years of delays both technical and monetary. Kristin Fisher is joining us now live from Florida with more. Hi there, Kristin.

[06:20:02]

So tell us more about the people who will be on board and what role they hope the Starliner will play for NASA.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Victor and Amara. Well, Boeing Starliner spacecraft is designed to take NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Now, you may be thinking, Wait a minute, aren't there already spacecrafts that already do that? And the answer is yes, but NASA wants more because NASA likes backups, contingencies, and redundancy. So right now, the only options are a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to take NASA astronauts to the space station. You know how tenuous the U.S. relations with Russia have been lately.

And then the other option has been SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule, this the Boeing Starliner spacecraft is going to add to that fleet of options. And this is something that NASA, a moment that NASA has been working towards, for 10 years since 2014 when NASA first doled out these two dueling contracts to Boeing and SpaceX as part of its commercial crew program. Back then everybody thought Boeing would be first to fly a crew. But that did not turn out to be the case. SpaceX has now flown 13 crews to outer space.

And so, today is Boeing's chance to finally put its first crew up in orbit and that crew is the commander Butch Wilmore, and the pilot, Suni Williams. And these two were sitting on top of that rocket about an hour ago, just two hours away from liftoff when engineers spotted a faulty valve on the Atlas 5 rocket that is supposed to propel that Boeing Starliner spacecraft up into space.

And so, those astronauts had to get down, go back into quarantine and they have been sitting in quarantine for about a month now. They have been able to go back to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas spend some time with their family. But it's been a long time that they've been waiting for this moment today. And so we've got liftoff scheduled for 12:25 p.m. Eastern Time from Cape Canaveral Space Force station.

If all goes according to plan, the Boeing Starliner spacecraft will separate from the ULA's Atlas 5 rocket a few minutes after liftoff. Then Butch and Suni will go on a 24-hour trip to the International Space Station. Stay there for eight days, and then come back to earth so fingers crossed guys. Weather's looking good. So far, no technical or engineering issues, but we wait and see because we're still a few hours away from that countdown starting.

WALKER: Fingers crossed. Although I do see a little bit of clouds behind you, but I think we're going to give it a mystic word. I mean, it's got to be right.

FISHER: We don't say that.

WALKER: It does.

FISHER: It look great.

WALKER: OK, fine. Your vantage point is obviously much clearer than mine, Kristin. Can you imagine? 30 days in quarantine.

BLACKWELL: 30 days in quarantine. Hopefully they get along. It's just the two of them.

WALKER: You mentioned 30 days in quarantine.

BLACKWELL: I don't know.

WALKER: I don't know who would hurt the other first.

BLACKWELL: I don't know we're going to make,

WALKER: How's it going to look? What do you think?

BLACKWELL: So let's talk now about the weather because Amber picked up a few clouds.

WALKER: Because I'm so picky now.

BLACKWELL: Because you're so picky. Are we expecting things to be good around noon?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: So they'll actually have some sunshine today. The first thing you always check for Florida forecast this time of year is the chance of those pop up storms. But actually we don't have any of those today. We've got some sunshine in the forecast for Cape Canaveral temperature at 78 degrees with some east winds at 10 miles per hour. With these launches though, you also need to monitor winds upstairs in the atmosphere. If there's just a little bit turn there. That could also be a problem for some watches.

So, something to keep an eye on but for right now sunshine in Florida. Not the case though for a lot of the plains where we have been dealing with severe weather for a couple of days. Now we've got some storms and parts of Texas, Kansas, and then headed up into Nebraska some showers from Missouri down to the Gulf Coast.

Here's a look at the severe risk for today. It's a level two out of five. For parts of the High Plains there going to parts of Texas and then tomorrow it shifts from the Dakotas down into Nebraska same level two out of five slight risk.

We'll find some storms fire up today possibility of some large hail. And then tomorrow it shifts to a damaging wind threat farther north in the northern plains for some places like Omaha, so still a little bit on the active side for the Central Plains with a couple of storms rolling through.

But we do have this high pressure that sets up in the West. And that will send temperatures skyrocketing as we go through the next couple of days. We're average for this time of year and a place like Phoenix is 100. We're looking at temperatures getting to 105 as we start to get into the work week, and this is much above average even for early June. Temperatures tend to 20 degrees above average.

[06:25:00]

We've got some watches are ready for some dangerous conditions possible, guys.

BLACKWELL: All right, Elisa Raffa watching for us. Thanks so much.

Turning now to the economy. The Federal Reserve's favorite inflation gauge showed little progress last month.

WALKER: And as Rahel Solomon has the latest on what you need to know.

(BEGIBN VIDEOTAPE)

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Victor, Amara, good morning. A new report confirms the fight against inflation, it's far from over. On Friday, the Commerce Department released its April PCE report. And it's this inflation data that the Federal Reserve watches especially closely in the report show that in April, the PCE price index rose 2.7 percent from a year ago and rose 0.3 percent on a monthly basis.

Now food prices, well, they did fall, but gas prices ticked up for the month by more than 1 percent. But if you strip away both of those categories, food and energy, you get what's called core inflation. And this is seen as a better indicator of underlying inflation and annual core PCE rose 2.8 percent, which is what Wall Street expected.

So you put it all together. And what you have is inflation data that appears to be moving sideways, not exactly accelerating, not falling either. We also saw in the data consumer spending took a dip rising 0.2 percent compared to 0.7 percent. We saw that in March.

Now, Friday's report is yet another reminder of what appears to be a bumpy road ahead for the Fed. It also casts some doubt on how soon the central bank will be able to cut rates. Now the Fed hasn't raised rates since July of 2023. But they have kept rates at this this high level, in fact, their highest in two decades since that meeting. So there is now a growing appetite for rate cuts.

The feds next rate setting meeting is set to take place in less than two weeks. But before that, we will get the May jobs report next Friday. Victor, Amara.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Rahel, thank you. Boeing is under pressure after years of trouble at that aviation company. Coming up, the criminal charges Boeing could face.

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[06:31:29]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CO-ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND: The Obama family is mourning the passing of former first lady Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson. She passed away Friday morning. In a statement posted on X, Michelle Obama wrote, "my mom Marian Robinson was my rock, always there for whatever I needed.

She was the same steady backstop for our entire family, and we are heartbroken to share she passed away today." President Obama wrote, "there was and will be only one Marian Robinson. In our sadness, we are lifted up by the extraordinary gift of her life, and we will spend the rest of ours trying to live up to her example."

Robinson lived with the Obamas during their time at the White House and was often spotted at events with the first family. Mrs. Robinson was 86-years-old.

AMARA WALKER, CO-ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND: The attorney for Air Force Airman, Roger Fortson's family says they're pleased with the firing of the deputy who killed him, but they're calling for more to be done. Ben Crump told CNN, the actions of this deputy were not just negligent, they were criminal.

On May 3rd, the 23-year-old was shot and killed in his Fort Walton Beach, Florida apartment by deputy Eddie Duran who responded to a disturbance and progress call while the criminal investigation is ongoing. Fortson's family expects charges against the officer, citing video footages proof of a brutal and senseless killing as I call it.

BLACKWELL: New this morning, relatives of passengers killed in the two Boeing Max crashes are urging federal officials to prosecute the company.

WALKER: But as CNN's Pete Muntean reports the Justice Department is not making any promises.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, Amara, families met with the Justice Department for a full day, Friday, pricing for more accountability from Boeing. The timing here is really significant. Just two weeks ago, the Justice Department made a huge change going back on a years old deal it made with the company.

The Justice Department now says that Boeing did violate that deal to avoid a fraud charge after the 737 Max eight crashes of 2018 and 2019. And that Boeing is no longer protected by a two-and-a-half billion-dollar settlement. It is a deal that victims' families have never liked.

They have been fighting for years for Boeing to face more punishment from the federal government, something that could now happen or the Justice Department could simply reach a new settlement. After Friday's meeting, victims, families and their attorneys say the Justice Department did a good job of listening to them. But for now, that is it, listening without much action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT CLIFFORD, LAWYER FOR BOEING 737 MAX VICTIM FAMILIES: Prosecutors in true fashion were a bit tight-lipped about their intentions, but they represent to us in good faith that their investigation and analysis continues, and we'll take them at their word.

But make no doubt about it, what the families want, Boeing engaged in criminal conduct that should be properly prosecuted and penalized. That's the position of the families from around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Boeings still has two weeks to respond to the Justice Department about possible criminal charges. On Thursday, Boeing's CEO Dave Calhoun met with FAA Chief Mike Whitaker on its plan to fix the company's quality control issues that came to light after the 737 Max 9 door-plug blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight back in January.

Boeing is now retooling, training for workers and says, it is committed to staying on top of its third party suppliers.

[06:35:00]

One of them was at the center of the quality control problem that led to that door plug incident. The FAA says inspectors are staying on site at Boeing 737 plant and running Washington, and that the company will be forced to meet with and update the agency each week. Victor, Amara.

WALKER: All right, Pete Muntean, thanks so much. A Minneapolis police officer ambushed and killed while on duty. Coming up, how he's being remembered for his courage.

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[06:40:00]

WALKER: A Minneapolis police officer was killed by someone he thought needed help.

BLACKWELL: Jamal Mitchell was shot while responding to a shooting at an apartment and people are now remembering him as a hero and describing him as being exceptional in every way. CNN's Whitney Wild has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At

around 5:15 p.m., police received a call of two people shot at an apartment in south Minneapolis. When officers arrived, they are immediately met with gunfire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're getting shot at here! Twenty second and Blaisdell actively shooting!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are multiple shots fired! Multiple shots fired!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're actively shooting!

WILD: As officer Jamal Mitchell drives up to the scene, he stops less than two blocks away, there, Mitchell spots someone he believes needs medical care. That's when police say officer Mitchell is ambushed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cop down! There's a cop down!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One officer critical, en route to the hospital. One officer substantial, we're going to try to transport him as well.

WILD: The suspect officer Mitchell hoped to save, instead, shoots and kills him.

DREW EVANS, SUPERINTENDENT, MINNESOTA BUREAU OF CRIMINAL APPREHENSION: Officer Mitchell was attempting to assist the individual that shot him, and with that, it happened very fast and that he ambushed him. I'm using the term for a reason of seeing the video and he was ambushed at the time by this individual that was there.

WILD: The suspect and a civilian were killed during the shooting, four other people, a Minneapolis police officer, a firefighter and two citizens were shot, but survived. Mitchell's parents spoke out after the shooting.

DENNIS EDWARDS, LATE OFFICER MITCHELL'S FATHER: We always, you know, worried about him when he's out there. You know, tough getting that call, you know. So, here yesterday -- and -- well, he was always caring about people.

WILD: Mitchell's courageousness was on full display the moment he put on the badge. In 2023, CNN highlighted Mitchell after he and his partner ran into a burning home to save an elderly couple.

JAMAL MITCHELL, LATE POLICE OFFICER: Police! Everyone in here, call out!

WILD: Mitchell had been on the force just three days.

MITCHELL: We're not trained to run into fires, but we are trained to put others' lives in front of ours.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a hero. I've never met an officer that received an award on the third day on the job, he was a wonderful human being. He had only been in the department about a year-and-a- half, and he was exceptional. Mitchell's murder marks the fourth first responder ambushed and killed in Minnesota in the last few months.

On February 18th, two officers and a firefighter were killed and Burnsville, Minnesota, after responding to a domestic violence call.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): That trauma quickly should turn to anger, and a commitment that this cannot happen. We do not have to live this way.

WILD (on camera): Law enforcement continues to investigate what is a very complex case here, but they have not yet offered a motive or any insight into why this all happened. Meanwhile, the police officer and the firefighter who were injured have both been released from the hospital. Whitney Wild, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: It is the official start of pride month, and a group of drag performers are there banding together, fighting back against anti-LGBTQ laws. Coming up, how they're finding their strength in numbers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:00]

WALKER: Today is the first day of pride month and amid attacks on drag expression. A group of artists including victims of the Club Q shooting in Colorado and the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Florida, have launched Qommittee to organize drag artists and fans into an organization to protect and promote drag.

Now, the year 2023 saw a record 510 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in state legislatures across the country, according to the ACLU, with more than 40 of those directly targeting drag performance. The Anti- Defamation League says that there were 138 hate-motivated incidents relating to drag events and performers between June 2022 and April 2023.

Joining me now is Scott Simpson, he is a community organizer with Qommittee. Welcome to the program, good morning to you. Tell me more about --

SCOTT SIMPSON, COMMUNITY ORGANIZER WORKING WITH QOMMITTEE: Thank you --

WALKER: Committee, because obviously, the LGBTQ community, the drag performers, you know, felt like they needed some kind of protection, and Qommittee is obviously trying to provide some of that.

SIMPSON: Yes, well, happy Pride Month, Amara, it's really great to meet you, thanks for having us on. I hope I'm the first to wish you happy Pride and to the rest of America. We started Qommittee this week, as you said, a group of drag artists and fans have come together because the drag is under attack.

You know, I love drag like millions of Americans do. I find it to be a beautiful art that celebrates self-acceptance. It celebrates diversity. It celebrates inclusion. But to some people who thrive on division, that's a threat, and that has been dangerous to some folks as people's livelihoods have been lost. In some cases, people's lives have been lost too.

WALKER: Yes, tell me more about the danger that, you know, some of these bills are -- you know, the offensive or not offensive, but the legislature, legislators in specific states have gone on the offensive when it comes to drag performers. Why has that created a dangerous atmosphere for drag performers.

[06:50:00]

SIMPSON: Sure, well, so, there has been conspiracy theories and attempted bans, and a lot apply to misinformation about drag, and about drag performances happening in communities across the country. And that's resulted in a situation as dangerous.

The performers that we work with at the Qommittee, they'd been through shootings, they've been through bombings, they've been doxxed, they've been threatened, they've had death threats. It's really un- appropriate. Drag is supposed to be a celebration of joy, and it's our form that takes a lot of work.

And as -- when we see this happening as a fan, I, you know, I certainly don't think that's right. I think that this is a country where people should be able to express themselves in any way they like, and drag really brings people together. It's fun --

WALKER: Yes --

SIMPSON: And that -- and that is threatening to some people.

WALKER: So, what do you say to the supporters of these anti-LGBTQ bills, who say, look, this is not about targeting the -- you know, LGBTQ community, this is about protecting our children from content that is not suitable for them, but you know, only for adults.

SIMPSON: Well, have you seen "Mrs. Doubtfire"? Have you seen "Madea"? Have you seen "To Wong Foo"? Right? These are -- these are films that everyone has seen and people are not corrupted by that. Certainly, you know, if a drag show is happening, not every drag show, just like every TV program or just like every movie isn't appropriate for audiences.

But sometimes, they are, and they're clearly when drag is publicly available in a place where kids can go and see it. It's going to be age appropriate, and it's going to be amazing. You know, I mean, the drag story hours that have been happening on the libraries and communities across the country.

They're about -- there are about reading to kids. There are about -- and while not every drag -- and not every drag show is going to be for everybody. You know, so, certainly, kids should be at some 21 and up club at any sort of comedy show or music show or drag show.

WALKER: So, before we go, just tell me a little bit more about, you know, what Qommittee will aim to do, because you have ten members currently, some of them have been, as you said, victims of hate crimes.

SIMPSON: Yes, well, so drag artists are also incredible organizers. I mean, they're building audiences from scratch in their own communities to working very hard. And Qommittee is networking them. So, we start with ten, but there's no reason we can't have a 1,000 or even more.

And when you add drag fans in the mix, people like me, people like a lot of your viewers, that's what's really a powerful grassroots effort. And so, that's what we're looking for. We want to build the grassroots presence in every state, we also want to be there for drag artists when they come under attack.

So, that could be with legal support, that could be with mental health crisis counseling, that could be with just, you know, knowing what to do if you're targeted, because you know, a lot of these folks have to sort of scramble and make it up as they go when they get -- when they get attacked or doxxed or threatened.

And so, we want to be there as a support that knows the terrain, that knows what happens when folks get targeted and provides those resources.

WALKER: Sadly, your members have that experience, right? Scott Simpson, you are the first to wish me happy Pride Month, so, thanks for that, happy Pride Month to you. I appreciate you joining us, thank you.

SIMPSON: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Former President Trump is promising a fight after his conviction in New York. Will his legal cases have an impact on the campaign trail?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:00]

BLACKWELL: A new five-part CNN original series explores the science behind natural phenomena, hosted by Liev Schreiber. The episode show the increasingly frequent climate events like hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, wildfires.

WALKER: And the series features footage from some of the most severe examples of these natural events, and there's also interviews with scientists and survivors and storm chasers. The series examines nature and its ever-changing climate. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm coming Henry(ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really is a terrifying experience. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a stock of nightmares.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am thinking, I am going to die, and I thought that was it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't see it, but it's there looming.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You cannot out-swim this. You cannot out-run it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The sirens are going off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was chewing everything in its power.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And bang. The tornado hit. You could hear and feel it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My eyes and my throat were burning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You've got to be up high enough. That is your only escape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is all the colors of hell. It's hard to imagine power of mother nature.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not ready. We're very far from being ready. We have so much technology. We have the ability to control so much in our lives. You still can't control mother nature.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "VIOLENT EARTH" with Liev Schreiber premieres tomorrow at 9:00 on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Devastating natural disasters and the science behind them. The new CNN original series "VIOLENT EARTH" with Liev Schreiber gets up-close with wildfires, tornadoes, tsunamis and more, and the series premieres tomorrow night at 9:00 on CNN. All right, it's that time, the next hour of CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND starts now.