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Biden's Executive Actions Restricting Asylum Seekers Now In Effect; India PM Modi Declares Victory, Party Faces Setbacks; Heat Dome Sends Temps Into Triple Digits in West. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired June 05, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:41]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Wednesday, June 5th.

Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:

Ban at the border. Asylum seekers waking up to new rules after President Biden's executive action already facing political and legal challenges.

Victory and disappointment. India's prime minister winning a third consecutive term in a race, though, that was much closer than predicted.

And, Boeing about to try one more time to launch two astronauts to the International Space Station on its Starliner spacecraft.

(MUSIC)

HUNT: All right. Five a.m. here in Washington, a live look at our U.S. Capitol on this Wednesday morning.

Good morning, everyone. It's wonderful to have you with us. I'm Kasie Hunt.

President Biden's new restrictions on asylum seekers at the U.S.- Mexico border are now in effect, only a limited number of migrants claiming asylum will be allowed to cross into the U.S. each day until the threshold is met. Immigration advocates argue that the measure puts lives at risk and doesn't go far enough to fix a broken system.

The president says his hand was forced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm moving past Republican obstruction and using the executive authorities available to me as president to do what I can on my own to address the border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Democrats are divided. Many see it as necessary while some progressives are calling it a betrayal. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY (D-MA): It is extremely disappointing that this White House would choose to double down on the previous administration's harmful and flawed immigration policies.

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): It's not perfect fake, but I am supportive of the action that he took today.

REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): He knows that probably the courts will reject it as they did when President Trump did it, and that really throws the issue back to Congress.

REP. TOM SOUZZI (D-NY): The asylum is a very important part of America's history. But now, the system is being abused. I think it was the right thing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Joining me now, congressional reporter for "The Hill", Mychael Schnell.

Mychael, good morning to you. Thanks so much for being here this morning.

So what are we hearing in terms of reaction to this? You saw Democrats there who tend to be in more swing areas, shall we say, on board with what the presidents doing at the -- at the very heart of this, it's a reflection of just how difficult this problem is politically for the president.

MYCHAEL SCHNELL, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE HILL: Right. So first two, for starters, right out the gate, we saw Republicans slamming this effort by the Biden administration, essentially saying it's A, it's too little too late and accusing the President of making a purely political move. Of course, because we've seen in all the polls, that immigration is the top issue, that voters trust former President Trump over President Biden to handle the issue of immigration.

So they're saying that this is totally a political thing. Speaker Mike Johnson calling it, quote, weak and window dressing. So that's been the general consensus among Republicans.

Democrats have been formed more interesting in aftermath of this executive order because they've been pretty split. We've got progressives and liberals who are sounding off on this executive order, arguing that it goes way too far. We've seen especially folks from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus saying that an enforcement only order is not the way to do this. There needs to be some sort of path to citizenship, and again, accusing the president of making a purely political move.

But then we've seen some more centrist and moderate Democrats who are in those tough races running against Republicans, running against Republicans in districts that maybe are a little more purple or lean a little bit red, who are saying that this was a good move by the president. Clearly, the situation at the southern border need to be addressed, this issue cannot be ignored. The president did it in a in a good fashion while noting that this is, we got to this point because Republicans were not allowed that bipartisan border deal to progress through Congress.

HUNT: Right. And I mean, the, the bet for the president here, our Stephen Collinson here at CNN who tries to frame this -- these big picture trends for us. He writes, quote, Biden would never say it bluntly in public, but his gamble with progressives carries an implicit question. Where else are they going to go? Because at the end of the day, they're not going to Donald Trump.

SCHNELL: Right. So I mean, I like look at Michigan, for example, because in that primary, we saw somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of voters go the uncommitted route. So, you know, President Trump, President Biden was, of course, going to win the primary in that state. The uncommitted was not any threat to him, but it was a protest vote and it was good to take the temperature.

[05:05:02]

So, you know, they voted uncommitted there, but are Democrats going to stay home or progressives are going to stay home because the president made this executive order on the border? Probably not because while progressives and liberals may hate this executive order, there's one thing that they hate even more, and it's former President Trump, and they're nervous about the policies that he can enact on the border if he is president.

So I think that's, you know, it's an interesting take, and maybe the gamble that President Biden is taking right now, but also remember, we have to look at these polling because its what we have in the lead-up to the election. The border for the third month in a row last month, Gallup found it to be the number one issue to Americans, 20 --

HUNT: We actually have that polling which is up on the screen.

SCHNELL: -- 27 percent.

And then there was new polling from Decision Desk HQ this month, saying that voters trust former President Trump on the border by more than 20 points over President Biden. So --

HUNT: We've got that one, too.

SCHNELL: -- he had --

HUNT: Well, there you go.

SCHNELL: Clearly, the Biden campaign and administration must be looking at these numbers, they're hard to ignore. And when we're talking about the 24 election being so closely divided, anything they can pick up in this lead-up could be decisive. Clearly, trying to make a move at the border right now.

HUNT: Yeah. Let's look at what Donald Trump had to say in the wake of this executive order, let's just play a little bit of that.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a public relations executive order and it's meaningless. Meaningless. He could -- he could stop the millions of people coming into our country with one order in one signature. It's all there for him. I did it.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HUNT: So I'm going to set aside the fact that it's much more complicated than what Donald Trump just said there.

But the bottom line is, Trump's criticizing this. He actually did do something very similar during his -- that's what this order was based on, and I should say it was successfully challenged in the courts by groups like the ACLU.

SCHNELL: Which says it's going to challenge this one. And the ACLU actually said, we were successful during the Trump administration. I imagine will be successful this time round.

Look, I think that former President Trumps statement, right there is just emblematic of the political importance that is the issue of immigration and the situation at the southern border in the lead up to November.

Republicans know they have the upper hand on this issue. They know they're leading with it. They're running away with it. It's a true vulnerability for President Biden. That's why they didn't want to hand him a win when the bipartisan border deal came up in the senate, both in February and last month.

We're seeing the same thing right now. Republicans don't want to praise this policy, even though they may actually agree with it. You know, it is something, it is putting some sort of limit at the border which obsessively you would imagine they would be in favor of, but they don't want to say that because they don't want to give President Biden credit on this very important issue when we just really around the corner from the election.

HUNT: Yeah, it's election year politics straight up.

SCHNELL: With everything that happens.

HUNT: Mychael Schnell, thank you very much for starting us off this morning. I really appreciate your time.

All right. We've got a developing story right now in Lebanon, a shooting reported near the U.S. embassy. This is just northeast of Beirut. Lebanese troops were deployed to a report of gunfire.

The embassy called its small arms fire as the suspect, a Syrian national, was injured when those troops also opened fire, they are still working to figure out these circumstances of the shooting. All right. Coming up next here, India's prime minister stays in power, but his grip is slipping.

Plus, Hunter Biden's words being used against it as prosecutors laid out their felony gun case.

And ceasefire talks moving forward, senior Biden officials heading back to the Middle East.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:12:53]

HUNT: Welcome back.

A stunning election result in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi declaring victory after elections delivered him a right-wing governing coalition mission, while also handing him some unexpected setbacks. Modi's wrote -- Modi's ruling party falling short of securing an outright majority in parliament, an outcome so surprising, one pollster started crying on live TV when, he saw the results.

Oh, dear. Joining me now to discuss, CNN international anchor Max Foster.

Max, good morning. Quite an image there that pollster crying on TV.

This was a surprise. Help us understand why.

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: It was a surprised, because the polls really showed that there was going to be a landslide. He's seen as a very powerful figure, the opposition have been a weak in previous elections, but bounce back a bit this time.

And this is where he really went down in history. So he's going into a third term only in Nehru has done who was seen by many as the founding father of a modern India. So he's seen as this very powerful figure who didn't quite swing it in the way he had hoped. But we have to remember he did win his BJP party is still very much in control.

But the challenge now is finding an alliance partner. There are about five kingmakers I was told by an engine expert earlier today that he'll have to work with to make it work long term. So he's going to have to compromise somewhere and its going to have to choose where he's going to have to compromise.

And this isn't a leader who we are used to seeing compromise.

HUNT: It's really interesting and, Max, what do you expect this will mean in terms of how Modi pushes India to interact with allies in the West and elsewhere? I mean, what sort of changes do you anticipate it? It does seem like this is going to make it harder for him to implement his agenda at home. Does that have an impact on his ability to work with allies around the world?

FOSTER: Well, there are two views of him really the one within India, which is very much focused on the economy.

[05:15:03]

And there have been allegations of corruption and strong hand tactics, if you liked with opposite position because a lot of that comes into the national debate there on the global stage. He is -- he is becoming a more and more important figure because close to China, also close to the United States, and he is -- his international policy is almost a relationship policy, a key figure, a charismatic, big, strong leader in India working with other like-minded leaders.

So expecting him to work with Trump if he gets into power in a similar way, he works directly with Xi. So the way he presents himself with a global stages as a big, powerful figure in terms of policy, it's not always that clear in terms of international policy because he does try to work with everyone.

And everyone is trying to woo him. China's going to woo him. America is trying to woo him. It's a big important economy, and everyone wants him on side, but he's -- he's getting with everyone likes the strong -- the strongman. So that's been interesting and it'll be interesting to see how he continues with that.

HUNT: Well, it's a bit undermining right to not have had this be the sweeping victory that he and his allies had projected it might.

Max Foster for us in London, Max, always grateful for you. Thank you so much.

FOSTER: Thank you, Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Just ahead here, Boeing's Starliner preparing for liftoff and just a few hours after two failures.

Plus, President Biden landing in France to commemorate this 80th anniversary of D-Day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:21:00]

HUNT: All right. Twenty minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.

CIA Director Bill Burns is heading back to the Middle East for Gaza ceasefire talks. He is scheduled to meet with Qatari leaders in Doha and he'll also get an update from Hamas on the latest hostage release since ceasefire proposal.

World War II veterans arriving in Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. President Biden landed in Paris just a few hours ago. Tomorrow, he'll meet with veterans, deliver remarks and participate in a wreath-laying ceremony.

Representative Andy Kim has won the Democratic Senate primary in New Jersey. He will now face off against Senator Bob Menendez in November. Menendez, the incumbent, is running as an independent while he is on trial for corruption charges.

All right. Millions out West are under excessive heat warnings this morning and a heat dome as temperatures spiked to the triple digits. It is a major challenge for firefighters who are battling the Corral Wildfire in central California.

Our meteorologists Elisa Raffa tracking all of it for us.

Elisa, good morning.

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. We do have excessive heat warnings that are in effect for multiple days as we go into the next couple of days, I mean, look at the warnings that stretch the spine there of Sierra Nevada, what is going into parts of southern California and then Vegas, Phoenix, all included in these warnings that go at least through Thursday and Friday.

We are looking at least 100 temperature records being dropped daytime highs, and overnight lows. And we take a look at some of these high temperatures. Yes. Places like Phoenix, Vegas do get hot and were headed into the summer heat season. But even for them, this is dangerously hot, this early in the season.

Your average high in Vegas this time of year is 96 degrees, but it could be candy, some of their earliest 110 degree temperatures on record, same thing for Phoenix, your average is around 100, but we're looking at temperature is getting up to 110, 115, Palm Springs as well at temperatures of good 10 degrees above average.

So you can see these temperatures are 10 to 15 degrees above average from Sacramento to Vegas and Salt Lake City. As we go through Thursday and Friday as well as this heat just continues to sink.

So, we're looking at major too extreme impacts, again from southern California through parts of Arizona, even stretching into southern Texas. It's dangerously hot for early June, making people more vulnerable to heat sickness, were not I really acclimated to this type of heat yet. So you want to check on children, elderly, and pets.

Now, take a look at this. It has been 25 years since Las Vegas has hit a daily cold low temperature 25 years, they have had so many more records for heat than they have for cold. And that is because the summer season is hotter in Vegas, a 5.6 degree fever since 19 70, they have nearly 40 more warm days in summer -- Kasie.

HUNT: Really striking when you put it that way.

Elisa Raffa, thanks very much for that.

Coming up next here, drama at Hunter Biden's gun trial. His wife going off on a former Trump aide.

Plus, the fight in the Senate over contraception.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:28:54]

HUNT: Just before 5:30 a.m. here on the East Coast.

A live look at the Jefferson Memorial on this Wednesday morning.

Good morning, everyone. Kasie Hunt, wonderful to have you with us.

It's day three of Hunter Biden's federal gun trial in Delaware. Court began yesterday with the jury hearing opening statements. Prosecutors and defense attorneys battling over the one fundamental issue, whether the president's son lied about being an addict when he purchased a gun in 2018.

Prosecutor Derek Hines telling the jury, quote, we would not be here today if he was just a drug addict. He crossed the line when he chose to buy a gun and lied during a federal background check. Addiction may not be a choice, but lying and buying a gun is a choice.

Biden's central defense in the case that he did not consider himself an addict at the time of the purchase. Biden's defense attorney reminding the jury, quote, what's common to all three charges is the requirement that prosecutors left off their slide. They have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hunter knowingly violated the law.

During witness testimony, prosecutors used Hunter's own words against him, playing several passages from the audio book for his 2021 memoir.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

HUNTER BIDEN, SON OF PRESIDENT BIDEN: I possessed a new superpower, the ability to find crack in any town at any time.