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Erin Burnett Outfront

Ukraine: Forces Intercepted All 18 Missiles In New Russian Barrage; Intruder Broke Into National Security Advisor's Home Undetected; Interview With Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) After Attack At His Office; NYC Mayor Adams Intensifies Biden Criticism, Asked About President's Presence On Migrant Crisis, "Good Question". Aired 7-8p ET

Aired May 16, 2023 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:35]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, Ukraine shoots down every single Russian missile as Russian forces are said to be retreating around Bakhmut. New video into OUTFRONT tonight of them crawling -- you'll see them crawling on hands and knees, like deserting an area. We're live on the ground tonight.

Plus, new pictures from the violent attack at Congressman Gerry Connolly's office that sent two staffers to the hospital. Congressman Connolly is OUTFRONT.

And the New York mayor publicly breaking with President Biden as angry parents demand to know why school gymnasiums may be closed down to become the new home for migrants.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, every single Russian rocket shot down by Ukraine today, as some of Putin's forces are on the run on the front lines. These are two major developments tonight in the great European war.

First, Russian President Vladimir Putin firing a total of 18 missiles at Ukraine. Take a look at that new video there. It's one of the interceptions. Ukrainian officials say they shot down every single one of those missiles down. You see one of them right there. It's like lightning in the sky.

It's an important show of how sophisticated Ukraine's defense capabilities have actually become. In fact, the only damage was from the falling debris from the destroyed missiles and interceptors which set some vehicles on fire and damaged the city zoo. U.S. officials telling CNN that Russia's new strategy is to fire a barrage of missiles at Ukraine all at once in the hopes that they will overwhelm Ukraine's air defenses and that some will break through.

Which, of course, when you think about is an incredibly costly strategy for Russia, right? The county facing some serious defense supply challenges, just a barrage of missiles hoping one breaks through. The downed missiles come as Putin's forces are retreating in areas north and south of Bakhmut, according to the Ukrainian deputy defense minister. And we've got some more video to show you on that front, from one of these areas.

So, what you're looking at here are Russian forces. They're actually on their hands and knees here. They're crawling trying to avoid being hit and spotted on their way out. So as you're watching that, they're crawling out of an area near Bakhmut.

Let me show you another new video that we just got into the show tonight. This was filmed a little bit further south of Bakhmut. What you're looking at here is Ukraine taking out what's been described as a Russian electronic warfare station that was installed on top of some silos. So that's that smoke and explosion that you see there. So it's a precision strike at that target.

Meanwhile, Ukraine feeling the momentum, it comes as one of Putin's top allies who has been crucial to Putin's war effort is facing significant questions about the stability of his regime because Putin's top ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, we've got some new video from today, appearing to show his hand bandaged and his voice at times sounds very hoarse and strained. This is significant because it comes after several missed appearances at major public events.

Lukashenko is very important. Of course, he controls the entire northern border of Ukraine. He's threatened nuclear actions against Ukraine. He's let Putin's forces invade Ukraine and massed from his country. He's now providing sanctuary and base use for Putin's air force.

In a moment, I'm going to speak to the Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. She's now living in exile and has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in absentia.

First, though, I want to begin with Nic Robertson, because he is OUTFRONT tonight on the ground in Eastern Ukraine.

And, Nic, what is the latest there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, one of the places to watch here right now is Bakhmut. Why? Because it's been such an intense fight. But there are lessons here for the Ukrainian commanders. What they are trying to do right now is encircle Bakhmut.

And what are the lessons that they're learning? That that fight in the meat grinder of the city itself is a tough fight, even the Russians still having some advantage there where the fight is easier, if you will, and it ain't easy really where it is less bloody than inside the city.

It is outside in the countryside where it's easier to advance. There are lessons going on in Bakhmut as the Ukrainian commanders here consider the coming counteroffensive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROBERTSON (voice-over): On Bakhmut's destroyed streets, two Ukrainian soldiers bolster flagging spirits with dark humor.

Oh, that boom, boom, boom, is that on us, one says. Oh, no, the other jokes, we're enchanted, they're not for us.

Russia's push for the remaining Ukrainian-controlled high-rises around them has not relented despite recent successes taking ground north and south of the meat grinder town.

[19:05:06]

In a field hospital nearby, troops concussed by heavy Russian shelling inside Bakhmut.

How was the fight in Bakhmut compared to Kherson and other places?

WHITE, UKRAINIAN SOLDIER: Bakhmut is so much --

ROBERTSON: Call sign "White", a 47-year-old former warehouse manager, tells us Bakhmut is his hardest battle yet. It's hell, he says.

How is the morale at the front line?

He pauses, sighs, and whispers, it's hard. Tanks, too, are getting chewed up in the Bakhmut meat grinder. This Soviet-era T-72 blasted by shelling there, repairs made in hedge rows because workshops are getting targeted.

The shrapnel holes don't matter, this tank commander tells us. What's important is the engine and the reactive armor.

Locations of repair hideaways like this one are a closely guarded secret. Once the counteroffensive begins, they will be even more vital to keep the military and its machines moving.

In a combat bunker buried outside Bakhmut, troops have no idea when or where the big offensive will come.

They're monitoring the battlefield from here. We can't show you the screens that they're looking down from drones. As soon as a Russian soldier puts his head up and moves, you see it.

Morale here high because they recently made gains across fields surrounding the town. Early success in the coming counteroffensive will be critical, the lessons of Bakhmut, momentum and motivation is all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (on camera): Well, the air raid sirens are going off right now, and I've lost track of how many times they've gone off. That's because this area is close to the front line. And that's because it's incredibly active.

And one of the commanders are looking for, they're looking for Russia to pull out forces from front lines to bring them and reinforce Bakhmut. And if they do that, if the Russians weaken defenses and some parts of the front line, this is where you may see the Ukrainian military leadership say, okay, that's the weak spot now, that's where we can attack, that's an opportunity for the counteroffensive. Right now, no one on the ground knows that.

BURNETT: All right. Nic, thank you very much from eastern Ukraine tonight.

I want to go to the retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, of course, the former commanding general of Europe and the Seventh Army.

So, General, let me just ask you. You hear what Nic saying that the implication there is that the soldiers, they don't know -- they don't know when, they don't know where, the soldiers on the ground, but that perhaps it may be that Ukraine is literally waiting to see where Russia pulls and moves troops away, and then creates the counteroffensive there.

Do you think that's what's happening? I know that obviously you've written an op-ed talking about why this seems to have been taking so long, this much-anticipated counteroffensive.

LT. GENERAL MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: There was so much, Erin, in Nic's report just now from a military perspective that would be glossed over by anyone else. But I got to tell you, what he's talking about is, yes, they are looking for activity within the Russian lines so they can -- the Ukrainians can use it to their advantage.

But I got to tell you, I believe that the Ukrainians have already plotted their contingency operations for their offense. They know where they're going to go. They just want to get some last-minute information, some intelligence so they can shape the penetrations all along the front lines. Some of it may be in that Donbas area near Bakhmut.

But I would suggest, we're talking about a several-hundred-kilometer frontage. They're going to go in a lot of different places, but great report by Nic.

BURNETT: Well, interesting you say a lot of different places. Ukraine is saying just over the past few days that they've liberated substantial areas around Bakhmut. This is a place that for nine months every day was at best three or four feet of a gain, right, and at worse was a complete stalemate. Now we've got video of Russian soldiers crawling out on their hands and knees. You do see some withdrawal.

Do you think that Ukraine is making true gains right now?

HERTLING: Yeah, they certainly are. What we're talking about is -- you know, I focused on that film that you had with the soldiers crawling. But the one that was more important to me was the precision strike on the electronic warfare. BURNETT: On that silo, yeah.

HERTLING: Because Russia has attempted to pull EW assets closer to the front to try and interfere with Ukrainian missiles and precision- guided equipment. The main target are those kind of jammers that can influence the rest of the battlefield.

And the other thing I'd say, Erin, while we're watching the small tactical fights of soldiers crawling around, the most important thing for General Zaluzhnyi, the commander of the Ukrainian force, is not only getting his combat forces forward but to quickly follow them up with logistics forces.

[19:10:06]

The piece of repairing the tank in the wood line --

BURNETT: Yes.

HERTLING: -- that's exactly the kind of challenges you're going to have in combat to make sure those things keep running.

BURNETT: All right. And now the barrage of missiles overnight, Ukraine successfully intercepted all 18 of them, right? But, you know, we've been seeing this. When there's a missile attack from Russia, it's an onslaught, they're throwing a lot at it, hoping that some break through.

And we understand that Russia's doing this even more. Like they're using even more missiles in each attack, again, to try to just overwhelm the Ukrainian air defenses.

What do you make of this in light of what we know to be, you know, severe issues on the Russian supply, military supply?

HERTLING: Yeah, there was an individual today that did a calculation of the cost of Russia's attack last night, and calculating the cost of the different types of missiles, the drones, the ballistic rockets, estimated it was a cost of about 155 million U.S. dollars in ammunition that was fired last night.

Now, the Ukrainians are firing a lot of expensive equipment back at them. But truthfully we've been saying this for a long time, I don't think Russia can sustain this kind of attack any further. But right now, they're testing out where the air defenses are, particularly the U.S. Patriot defenses. They want to see where those defenders are and they're going after them.

BURNETT: All right. General Hertling, thank you so much.

HERTLING: A pleasure. Thanks.

BURNETT: And OUTFRONT now, the Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. She was the main opposition candidate to Lukashenko in the last Belarusian election, an election the U.S. government called fraudulent with widespread vote rigging by Lukashenko. Her husband, also an opposition leader, was arrested. He's now serving

18 years in prison in Belarus. Sviatlana is in exile. She has been sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison.

And, Sviatlana, I'm very glad to speak to you again. I showed earlier and I want to show again the latest images, the video that we have of Lukashenko. We see his arm bandaged there, and there have been a lot of rumors about his health these past few days. What are you hearing?

SVIATLANA TSIKHANOUSKAYA, BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: We also hear rumors about Lukashenko's health. He disappears from public for six days. And even propaganda didn't know how to command his disappearance. But then he appeared again but he looked very sick.

Lukashenko, like every dictator, likes to control everything and to make the impression that he is invincible or most immortal. But his disappearance sparked discussion in society, what if he dies. And we feel that many people around him are also waiting for the moment of change and for us, the democratic forces, it means only one thing, we should be prepared for every scenario.

So, like, on the one hand, to pave the path to democracy, on the other hand, to prevent Russia from interfering. And, of course, we need international community to be proactive and fast because during Lukashenko is ill, we that this moment can come just in the nearest future.

BURNETT: And you talk about Russia's role here. Obviously, Lukashenko has been crucial to Putin. Do you believe Putin has a plan in place for a successor to Lukashenko if something were to happen to him at this point?

TSIKHANOUSKYA: Actually, we think that just in case Lukashenko disappears, there will be chaotic movement inside the regime because our -- Lukashenko's constitution doesn't regulate who will be like after him. And for sure, we can expect that Russia would like continue control Belarus, and they maybe try to put some pro-Russian person instead of Lukashenko.

But, of course, no Belarusian people, and maybe even no in nomenclature will accept and precept (ph) this new person. And it will be a situation of destabilization in Belarus. And actually from the side of the democratic forces, we will have to try to install communication with democracy-oriented people --

BURNETT: Yes.

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: -- in the power of Lukashenko and also with Belarusian people to mobilize people.

BURNETT: All right. Sviatlana, thank you so very much. I appreciate your time tonight.

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: Thank you.

BURNETT: And, next, OUTFRONT, an intruder slipping by the Secret Service, entering the home of America's national security adviser, eventually coming face to face with Jake Sullivan. How did this happen?

Plus, new pictures into OUTFRONT tonight of a violent attack inside Congressman Gerry Connolly's office.

[19:15:05]

Two of his staffers hospitalized and Congressman Connolly is next.

And former President Obama, like we've never heard him speak before, on the toll the presidency took on his personal life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT: I did not fully appreciate, I think, as engaged of a father as I was, the degree of stress and tension for her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Tonight, the Secret Service is investigating how an intruder got into the home of the National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan undetected by agents guarding his home. The break-in happening in the middle of the night at Sullivan's home in Washington, and a source tells CNN that Sullivan actually came face to face with the intruder, face to face, in the middle of the night in his home. The intruder then left without Sullivan's 24/7 surveillance detection noticing.

Jeremy Diamond is OUTFRONT.

And, Jeremy, this is pretty scary and stunning. I mean, what more do you know about how this man, it was a man, was able to get past the agents and into Sullivan's house.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the how of this, Erin, is exactly what the Secret Service is now investigating. I mean, keep in mind, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, he has a 24/7 Secret Service detail including agents posted outside of his home guarding that home.

[19:20:02]

And yet somehow in the middle of the night late last month, an unknown man entered that home without those Secret Service agents noticing that he had entered the home. He came face to face, as you said, with the national security adviser who essentially was able get him to leave.

Now, a source familiar with the matter says that Sullivan told investigators he believes the man was intoxicated, the man was not threatening in any way. And apparently, he left before Secret Service agents were alerted to the intrusion by Sullivan. Now, the Secret Service is investigating this and their spokesman says

in a statement, quote, while the protectee was unharmed, we are seeing this matter seriously and have opened a comprehensive mission assurance investigation to review all facets of what occurred. Any deviation from our protected protocols is unacceptable, and if discovered, personnel will be held accountable.

And in the meantime, that spokesman says that the Secret Service has already made changes to its posture in terms of adding additional layers of security outside of Sullivan's home, in terms of making sure that the national security adviser, again, one of the most important people in the federal government, advising the president on national security matters, remains safe -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Jeremy, thank you very much.

And we also have new images tonight into OUTFRONT of another threat to a U.S. government official. This was the destruction left behind after that attack inside Congressman Gerry Connolly's office in Fairfax, Virginia. You see the smashed glass, blood-stained carpets, supplies thrown across the room.

The 49-year-old suspect was accused of striking two of the congressman's staffers with a metal bat, including an intern was there for the first day. You can see the destruction. You see the blood. You see the broken glass all from that bat.

The suspect arraigned today on felony charges, including aggravated malicious wounding and hate crime assault. That last charge relates to this incident before the attack at the congressman's office when he allegedly changed a woman with a bat, smashed a car windshield after asking her, are you white?

Well, the suspect's father tells CNN his son is schizophrenic.

OUTFRONT now, Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly of Virginia.

And, Congressman, you know, these images of your office, I think for anybody watching, just bring this home -- this is a suburban office building, right?

REP. GERRY CONNOLLY (D-VA): Right.

BURNETT: Your staffers were there just on a regular day. Someone comes in with a bat, all that, the destruction, the broken glass, the broken office equipment, they -- the blood, the injuries, I mean, it's absolutely terrifying.

I know that you were at the hospital with both of your aides who were attacked. How are they?

CONNOLLY: The good news, Erin, is they've been released from the hospital, which means I hope that the worst that could happen from their injuries is not going to happen. So they, you know, are on the road to physical recovery. But now, the hard work begins, which is the recovery from the psychic

wounds and the trauma that was inflicted yesterday. And I'm afraid that's going to be a long-term process.

BURNETT: Now, I know that this office as you said is only six people, and it's a close-knit group, and was -- the intern was just beginning her internship.

CONNOLLY: Right.

BURNETT: But the suspect came in looking for you specifically. So, this person was looking for you. They said they were looking for you, and then obviously they continued with this terrible attack.

But how does this you make -- make you feel knowing someone was coming in there with this intent?

CONNOLLY: I've always been fatalistic about threats to me and -- but I'm not fatalistic about threats to my staff or my family. And, you know, it's a sad commentary if we now have to accept as a price of public service threats to everybody associated with us. And I think it does underscore why we've got to tone down rhetoric, tone down images, and make sure that we never normalize violence in our domestic politics.

BURNETT: And, yet -- and yet there has been a normalization. That's part of the problem here.

I mean, you heard Jeremy Diamond reporting that an intruder recently entered the U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan's home in the middle of the night. He runs into this person. The Secret Service didn't detect it. He didn't feel that this person was threatening.

But, obviously, it's still scary that it happened. But it comes as we are seeing a sharp uptick in cases that do have a clear, targeted motivation, right?

The man who broke into --

CONNOLLY: Yes.

BURNETT: -- Pelosi's San Francisco house and attacked Paul Pelosi with a hammer, he spent days in the hospital.

The man who assaulted Democratic Congresswoman Angie Craig in the elevator of her apartment building in Washington, I mean, I remember talking to her about that, right? I mean, she's sitting there trying to, you know, throw coffee on someone just to try to protect her family in that apartment.

A staffer for Senator Rand Paul stabbed in Washington.

And there are more examples that I'm not even listing there, many more in recent months. What do you think is fueling all of this, Congressman? CONNOLLY: I honestly believe that Donald Trump made violence part of

his schtick. At rallies, you may recall, he actually talked about protesters and saying, you know, in my day, we'd take them out and beat them up, enabling violence and almost sanctioning it.

[19:25:12]

You know, he walked around at one point with a baseball bat, not an image of peace and tranquility and conciliation.

He, of course, incited the violence of January 6th, and some of his enablers here in Congress have called those insurrectionists who perpetrated enormous violence on police forces and would have done the same on members of Congress, patriots or just, you know, overexcited tourists.

When you say something like that, that's not true. And it is normalizing and enabling violence.

And for people living on the edge mentally, what they're hearing is a steady stream of violence is an acceptable route to express yourself or your anger. And I think, you know, we have to address that. That cannot be okay in a constitutional democracy like America.

BURNETT: All right. Congressman, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much. And I'm glad both of your staffers are okay.

(CROSSTALK)

CONNOLLY: Glad to be with you, Erin.

BURNETT: At least as you say, physically tonight.

CONNOLLY: Thank you.

BURNETT: Thank you.

And next, New York City's mayor at odds now with President Biden. He's struggling with a surge of migrants and now facing backlash from New Yorkers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We welcome them, just not to our school. And it's not -- it's about our kids' safety. That's what we're worried about the most.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Plus, shocking footage shows the moment a San Francisco security guard fatally shoots a shoplifter. And now the D.A. under pressure after opting not to press charges.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:30:40] BURNETT: New tonight, president Biden insisting conditions at the border have improved just five days since Title 2 (ph) was lifted, that is the Trump era policy which allowed border officials to quickly expel migrants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's much better. It's looking much better. You see it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: In the meantime in New York, Mayor Eric Adams is disagreeing, and, moreover, blaming Biden for what's happening in his city. He says the surging number of migrants arriving in New York City is out of control, and Adams says that Biden and his administration are MIA on a plan to address it.

This comes as Adams is now off Biden's 2024 advisory board amid this criticism, and as Adams himself comes under fire for putting about 300 migrants in gyms at current and former schools across the city.

Athena Jones is OUTFRONT with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they tried to sort of just slip this through without giving people really a chance to respond.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like other -- other places to be considered. Our school is tiny. We can barely fit in it as it is.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Parents of children who attend this elementary school in Brooklyn, New York, concerned about Mayor Eric Adams' plan to potentially house migrants in 20 school gyms across the city. Adams says the migrants would not interact with students at the schools.

One parent who decided to monitor the school overnight over concern that's when migrants will arrive said he feared the atmosphere migrants could create at his children school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, we're not against them. They're all welcome, just not to our school, next to our children where they will be exposed to this. We don't know what exactly they're going to do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm taking them home.

JONES: In another part of Brooklyn, Coney Island community members also complained the city failed to notify them of a plan to use a detached school gym there for migrants. The facility has the capacity to house 100 people. And when CNN visited today without our camera, it was filled wall to wall with cots and appeared to be housing single- adult migrants.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything is possible. We not knowing nothing about these people and where they came from. We want to protect us.

My message for the mayor and the governor, y'all should be ashamed of yourself to not recognize the protection and the comfortability for our babies in these public schools.

JONES: With hundreds of asylum seekers arriving in New York City every day, more than 4,200 in the last week alone, officials say the city is out of space. More than 65,000 asylum seekers have arrived since last spring, including the highly publicized buses full of migrants from Republican border states. New York City has opened more than 130 emergency sites, announced the opening of its ninth large- scale humanitarian relief center, which will double as the city's first asylum-seeker arrival center.

For months, Mayor Adams has urged the federal government to provide more support to the city as it deals with what is usually a federal responsibility, immigration.

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY: On upon several different conversations I had with the president and meeting with his team, communicating with his team, sending out how urgent this is over the last few months, but we're not getting the support that we deserve here in New York City.

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We're working very closely with cities and communities along the border and in the interior of the United States. We need the system fixed.

JONES: And while border encounters may be falling, the humanitarian crisis shows no sign of abating, in New York and other cities far from the border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (on camera): Given what the mayor is calling an ongoing crisis, New York officials say everything is on the table when it comes to housing migrants, not just school gyms. They're already using a gym in a former police academy, are considering airplane hangars and national park, that was the city's first municipal airport, and Creedmoor, a state psychiatric facility -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Athena, thank you very much, reporting from New York.

I want to go now to longtime Democratic strategist James Carville.

James, look, this is -- this is a fascinating schism you're seeing at least for now. Mayor Adams is repeatedly calling out President Biden on this issue, right, publicly and by name. Then he's left off the Biden 2024 campaign advisory board amid this criticism.

The Biden campaign, for now, is saying President Biden counts Mayor Adams as a friend and partner.

[19:35:05]

They're not -- they're not giving anything out on this, yet. But how serious is this rift?

JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, first of all, this shouldn't be airing on CNN or "Axios" or anywhere else. Somebody's got to get people -- I mean, the leader of the Democrats in the Senate is Senator Schumer from New York. Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of Democrats in the House, is from New York.

It's not like somebody got to get somebody else and they got to figure this out and explain what's going on. Of course, at the end of the day, it's about resources. When is it not about resources?

But, the White House and the governmental relations office, what the hell are they doing? The congressional relations office. I mean, somebody ought to be able to fix this and get the kind of help and coordination that we need here. I know plenty people, my friend Reverend Sharpton had to mediate between the two of them. Or Ritchie Torres is one of the more talented young people in American politics.

But somebody's got to step in the breach here and figure out how to resolve these issues. This country has 3.4 percent unemployment. People are dying to come here and there's no doubt about it.

BURNETT: So, and yet -- and, yet, you're saying all these things that make sense. Okay, these things should be happening. Of course, the glaring reality is that they aren't. And also, I mean, when you think about it, James, Mayor Adams, he loved President Biden. He wanted everyone to know how close they were.

So just let me show everybody where we were in January of 2022.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAMS: I'm the Biden of Brooklyn, and I'm sure if you were to ask him what is his favorite mayor, he'd clearly tell you it's Eric.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Okay, that's where we were in January of '22. And now, James, here's where we are.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAMS: The president and the White House has failed New York City on this issue.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where the heck is the president of the United States?

ADAMS: That is a good question.

No city should be carrying this burden. It's a national problem, and it needs a national solution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: All right. I mean, that's bad, James. It's not just him. Democratic Mayor Adams, the largest city of New York. You've got the mayors of Los Angeles, Denver and Houston, all of them Democratic mayors, they're demanding a meeting with Biden. They want to talk about the issue of migrants.

So, what is happening here? I mean, this is a division within the Democratic Party there's no question team Biden didn't want.

CARVILLE: Well, first of all, at the end of the day, it's about what most things are in politics. They're looking for more resources. By resources, I mean money.

And I just think after family squabble, that kind of went public, I think somebody could've cut this off before the White House, some of the congressional leadership. We just, you know, in defense of the president, he's got a fairly full plate here. And maybe the White House staff could've seen this coming and help cut it off. I don't know, but there's a lot of people with a lot of jobs.

BURNETT: Yeah, look, it's a totally fair point. I'm just wondering do you think that what this may be exposing because you've got this Democratic mayors standing up is that maybe they thought the Democratic base or the Democrats in these big cities would feel one way. But then when they were presented with migrants in their schools and all these other issues, they realized they felt a different way. And maybe the politics of this were totally misread by the Biden administration.

CARVILLE: Maybe, but my point is, of course you have a lot of people who want to come to the country, they want to go to places where jobs are, New York, Denver, all right, Los Angeles, places like that.

BURNETT: Yeah.

CARVILLE: This could have been addressed a long time ago. I don't know quite how we got to the point where you have the mayor of the largest city in the country in a kind of public spat with his brother Democrat who's the president of the United States I'm just saying, you know, congressional leadership, the people that knew this was coming, White House staff. And you wake up one morning, and you read the stories and you go, hey, it's kind of like the old, Casey Stengel, the manager of the 1961 Mets said, hey, can anybody here play this game.

I mean, this is not something that's intractable and unsolvable problem. It can be addressed. And I suspect it'll get addressed here in the next three or four days.

BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you very much, James. I always appreciate it. It's good to see you.

CARVILLE: All right, Erin, you bet. Thank you.

BURNETT: And next, protesters taking to the streets after a San Francisco security guard fatally shoots a shoplifter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROTESTERS: Justice for who?

Banko Brown!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Why the D.A. says she is not going to press charges.

Plus, a sobering warning tonight from the head of a leading artificial intelligence company. He says the technology, his own, should be regulated. But what does that mean for all of us?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:43:48]

BURNETT: Tonight, no charges for San Francisco security guard who shot and killed a suspected shoplifter at Walgreens. The district attorney declining to press charges, saying it was self-defense after the perpetrator allegedly threatened to stab the security guard. Now, the decision to not press charges comes as downtown San Francisco is facing issues with crime, homelessness, and drug abuse.

Veronica Miracle is OUTFRONT.

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PROTESTERS: Justice for who?

Banko Brown!

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Protesters with signs reading "We saw the tape, Banko was murdered." This is that tape.

Last month, a security guard at a San Francisco Walgreens is shoved, then fights with 24-year-old Banko Brown, who was suspected of shoplifting. At one point, the guard puts brown in a chokehold. Moments later near the exit, brown appears to move toward the guard who raises a gun and fires one shot, killing Brown. The district attorney said this.

BROOKE JENKINS, SAN FRANCISCO DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We arrived at our conclusion that we were unable to proceed with criminal charges.

MIRACLE: Protesters furious that the tape appears to show an unarmed Brown shot over drug store items.

JENKINS: I shared in that reaction, but, as I said, as a prosecutor, I could not stop there.

[19:45:00]

MIRACLE: D.A. Brooke Jenkins says this case goes beyond the tape. Her office releasing the police interview of the security guard 33-year- old Michael Anthony.

MICHAEL ANTHONY, WALGREENS SECURITY GUARD: So, when I went for the aisle, she attacked.

MIRACLE: Anthony says he told brown who the D.A. identified as a transgender man, that he was going to let him go. Anthony misgenders Brown during the interview.

ANTHONY: Once I let go, I stood back because the whole time we were wrestling, she was saying that she was going to stab me. And that's what really put the fear in my heart.

MIRACLE: Anthony says he had his weapon in hand when the struggle ended near the exit.

ANTHONY: I didn't know what she was planning on doing, but it turns out her intentions was to try to spit on me. And, by that reaction, by her turning around and advancing towards me, that's when I lifted it and shot once.

MIRACLE: Police said Brown did not have a knife. In declining to charge, D.A. Brooke Jenkins says it would be hard to disprove self- defense.

JENKINS: We have to believe at the time that we filed criminal charges against anyone for any crime that we can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

MIRACLE: The case comes as San Francisco deals with the perception that property crime is out of control. Police data shows a 23 percent year-to-year spike in the first two years of the pandemic, but overall still down nearly 6 percent in 2022, compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

Activists say what happened to brown is the symptom of a larger problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Banko was murdered because of his crime of being hungry. We know that Banko Brown was murdered for the crime of being homeless.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MIRACLE: And, Erin, I spoke with John Burris, the family's attorney right after the video was released. He said that the security guard was the aggressor that he created the confrontation, he had the weapon. So there was no justification for the shooting.

He says the family is disturbed that there has been no prosecution, and they plan on filing a wrongful-death lawsuit against the security guard, his employer, and Walgreens -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Veronica, thank you very much from San Francisco tonight.

And next, Elon Musk with a new warning about artificial intelligence. Our Harry Enten is going to break down the numbers about just how much A.I. has already massively transformed our world. You know, you hear certain names, but what are the numbers. Plus, former President Obama in a revealing new interview speaking out about his marriage while in the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Let me just say this: it sure helps to be out of the White House.

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[19:51:35]

BURNETT: Tonight, significant harm to the world. The CEO of Open AI which is behind the AI chat bot called ChatGPT that we all have heard so much about, issued this ominous warning to senators today.

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SAM ALTMAN, OPENAI CEO: My worse fears is that we cause significant -- we, the field, the technology industry, cause significant harm to the world.

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BURNETT: That's Sam Altman, and that's his honest view.

Elon Musk weighing in with his own concerns tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, TESLA CEO: I think it's very much a double-edged sword. I think there's a strong probability it will make life much better and we'll have an age of abundance, and there's some chance that it goes wrong and destroys humanity. Hopefully, that chance is small, but it's not zero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: All right. Harry Enten is OUTFRONT.

So, Harry, let's just start with ChatGPT is really new. I mean, really new. This is six months ago or something we heard the first conversations.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yeah.

BURNETT: And it has already changed the world.

ENTEN: It's already changed the world. It debuted towards the end of last year and now the number of visits worldwide in the month of April topped over a billion, over a billion, in just a short period of time, 1.8. And that makes it the 17th most visited website worldwide. It just went from zero to this mammoth growth so rapidly, Erin. BURNETT: Which is incredible. And by the way, that's the one others

are talking about. There's so many other ones people are using and discussing and that's indicative, but I mean, it's just ballooning.

And, you know, we heard about A.I. is going to change the world, it's going to have innovation, but obviously you heard from Sam Altman said. Sam Altman said what he really thinks and this is the guy sort of the brains behind all this.

So, when Americans look at this, do people have this fear?

ENTEN: They absolutely do. I mean, at this particular point, the plurality of Americans believe that, you know, AI for the future of society is actually a bad thing instead of a good thing. It's a close match if you see 46 percent say a bad thing versus 48 percent say a good thing.

But there's clearly a skeptical public out there. Now, I will point out, there are some differences within the public. Older folks are more skeptical than younger folks. People more familiar actually are less skeptical than people who are less familiar but -- more familiar, excuse me, but I will just say that there's clearly some skepticism out there going on and a lot of Americans are going to be convinced on this.

BURNETT: Right, and here's the thing I know, there's a lot of talk about government regulation. I guess have a skepticism that it's impossible to put a genie back in the bottle. It's impossible to control something like this by the very definition of what it is. That's just my personal fears.

ENTEN: Yes.

BURNETT: But what it -- do Americans support government regulation on this over party lines?

ENTEN: Overwhelmingly, Americans believe it's important there to be government regulation of A.I. Look at this, 76 percent say yes, 20 percent say, no, and this is overwhelmingly something that we see across party lines. Democrats agree on this, Republicans agree on this, young people agree on this, old people agree on this.

And, you know, I will point out, again, even if you think A.I. is a good thing for the future, even there you believe government regulation is important. So, it's just something that even if you think A.I. is a good thing, government regulation is important, it's going to be interesting to see if the government actually does get involved and how they do.

BURNETT: Right, right, and whether, again, as I said by its very nature and definition of what is can even be accomplished.

[19:55:02]

But these are the -- these are the crucial questions.

All right. Harry, thank you so much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BURNETT: And coming up on "AC360", the North Carolina legislature is expected to vote next hour as Republicans attempt to override the governor's veto of a newly passed strict anti-abortion law. The margin is razor thin and "AC360" will have those results for you.

Meantime, next, former President Obama speaking candidly on the toll the White House took on his marriage and his family.

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BURNETT: Tonight, Barack Obama opens up about his marriage. The former president was speaking candidly about the strain the presidency put on his marriage to Michelle Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Let me just say this, it sure helps to be out of the White House. I did not fully appreciate, I think, as engaged as a father as I was the degree of stress and tension for her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: It's a rare glimpse into the former president's private life in the White House. It's not the first time the Obamas have discussed their marriage publicly, but, you know, the former first lady she made an incredibly candid admission of her own recently. Remember this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY: There were ten years where I couldn't stand my husband, you know?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You say that.

M. OBAMA: Ten whole years. And guess when it happened? When those kids were little.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: It's amazing, right? It's remarkable to hear their willingness to talk about now, to talk so openly and, you know, take the risk of doing that, the vulnerability, knowing that it would connect with so many.

Thanks so much for joining us.

"AC360" begins now.