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Biden Orders Airstrikes On Facilities Used By Iranian-Backed Militias; Death Toll Rises, 152 Still Missing Amid Search For Survivors; Biden: I Didn't Mean To Threaten Veto Of Infrastructure Bill. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired June 28, 2021 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

BARBARA STAFF, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Now, this has been going on for some time -- these drone strikes -- and there's been a lot of concern that eventually they're going to wind up killing U.S. forces, and then you're going to have a much more serious problem for the administration to have to respond to.

So, not a total surprise that they went after these sites. They've been keeping an eye on them. These are operational and weapons storage sites on this border.

Now, the militia movements are saying four of their fighters were killed. Iran, a bit muted, so far, saying that this is destabilizing in the region.

But the administration convinced that it had to send the message that they need to back off. These drones are dangerous for U.S. forces -- they're difficult to detect. And Iran -- these militias are using a lot of them -- as many as five attacks, it's believed, since April.

So the message is out there and now the question is against the larger backdrop of Iran-U.S. relations, will the Iranians press the militias to change their behavior -- Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Barbara Starr with the latest for us. Barbara, thank you.

Blistering heat in the Pacific Northwest is shattering records. Portland set an all-time record high of 112 degrees on Sunday. Now, that eclipsed the prior record of 108, which was set on Saturday. And this dangerous heat is not letting up.

Let's get to meteorologist Chad Myers. Chad, it's awful, especially in an area that's not used to it.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Not used to it Erica, and also almost 30 percent of the populations of some of these cities don't have air conditioning because they just don't need it.

Now, Seattle's only been 100 or higher three times in history, and yesterday, 104 -- and warmer today. Something else that happened, we're going to see more records today breaking all-time records -- not for the day but for the city and for the entire year.

And one thing -- up here in Canada, 116. That breaks the record for the entire country ever for any town, any place, any year, any day.

And this heat goes all the way to the Arctic Circle. Temperatures, again -- even when you talk about oh, it's a dry heat. No -- actually, it's not. There's humidity out there and it is not a dry heat. More than 300 records will likely fall today.

And you'll notice some in the northeast as well. There are heat advisories across the northeast. Temperatures may feel like 105. Temperatures in New York City are going to be in the 90s again. It's going to feel like 104 today -- Erica.

HILL: Something to look forward to.

MYERS: Yes.

HILL: It was very hot and steamy at 2:30 this morning. I can attest to that.

Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

HILL: John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. The families of those missing in the Florida condo collapse desperately waiting for news about their loved ones.

Rescuers have been digging overnight and clinging to hope that someone could still be alive somewhere under the pile of concrete and metal. Nine people are dead; 152 remain unaccounted for.

CNN's Nick Valencia joins me now from the family reunification site here in Surfside. You know, Nick, as you've been there over the last several days it's been such a rollercoaster for these families. And the last 24 hours, in some ways, the most significant because they were finally allowed on the site itself.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, it was a very emotional moment for a lot of these families and friends who visited that site just 24 hours ago. For some, they tell me it was a little bit of closure to see that these search and rescue crews were doing the job that they have reiterated in these multiple briefings that they've been having with family and friends of the unaccounted. But it was yesterday that many of them got to see with their own eyes the work being done.

It is day five now that we enter this search and rescue effort with no signs of life, and we are seeing the range of emotions being exhibited here from these family and friends that are waiting for news.

That anger boiled over into outrage over the weekend during one of those briefings when we saw some of the family members get confrontational with local officials. And I spoke to Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue, saying that they understand the frustration. They know that it's not intentional for them to be pointed out and being blamed for this. But these families are really just clinging to any sort of miracle -- that a miracle will happen here in the coming days.

But as those hours tick by, of course, as we've been watching it all along here over the weekend and since that building collapsed, these family members -- some of them are starting to lose hope -- John.

BERMAN: You know, Nick, the officials I have spoken with -- they know that the families are frustrated and angry and hurt. And they also know that there are times when they may be the focus of that anger and the frustration and they understand it. They understand that these families are just looking for answers. And they understand that at times, that may be acted out upon them. And they're just going to keep working as hard as they can to look for survivors as long as they can.

Nick Valencia, please give our regards to the families there.

For more information about how you can help the victims and the families of the Surfside condo collapse, go to cnn.com/impact.

[07:35:03]

So this morning, new clues about the possible cause of this disaster here in Surfside. What one resident saw outside her window seconds before the building came down.

Plus, we're going to speak to a structural engineer who examined the condo building just last year. What did he see?

HILL: Also ahead, will conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene end up on the House committee investigating the January sixth insurrection?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: I'm John Berman live in Surfside, Florida this morning.

And we are getting new details emerging about a possible cause of the building collapse here as we learn more about the moments just before the tower fell.

[07:40:01]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN (voice-over): Search and rescue teams are working around the clock through a mountain of rubble in Surfside, Florida as investigators examine what caused the high-rise building to partially collapse last week.

CHIEF ALAN COMISKY, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: It's an extremely difficult situation. Our rescue teams are non-stop doing all that we can, searching every area -- every bit of hope to see if we can find a live victim. BERMAN (voice-over): And as rescuers continue their days' long effort of digging through the rubble at the scene of the collapse --

MAYOR DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA (D), MIAMI-DADE COUNTY: We continue to sweep the mound with our canines using all of the technology available to us and machinery to lift the debris.

BERMAN (voice-over): A structural report from two years ago showed major issues with the building. One local official saying some of the survivors said they felt the building shake while construction was going on at a building nearby in recent years.

ELIANA SALZHAUER, SURFSIDE, FLORIDA TOWN COMMISSIONER: In hindsight, reading that report is very damning. You read that report, you go, my God, how could they miss this?

BERMAN (voice-over): But a Surfside town official assured residents of Champlain Tower South that their building was in, quote, "very good shape" at a November 2018 meeting, NPR reported Sunday -- even though they had received a report warning of major structural damage to the tower two days earlier, according to e-mails released by the town and reviewed by CNN.

The engineering firm, Morabito Consultants, said in a statement that "Our report detailed significant cracks and breaks in the concrete, which required repairs to ensure the safety of the residents and the public." But the report did not indicate whether the building was at risk of collapse.

The catastrophe unfolded in just seconds early Thursday morning.

BARRY COHEN, SURVIVED SURFSIDE BUILDING COLLAPSE: I was in a deep sleep and I heard an incredible bang.

BERMAN (voice-over): Miami-Dade fire and rescue arrived at the scene around 1:30 a.m. where authorities say at least 55 of the 136 units collapsed. Inside the structure that was still standing, a race to escape.

JANETTE AGUERO, SURVIVED SURFSIDE BUILDING COLLAPSE: All I was thinking was we need to get out of here before this building completely comes down on us.

ALBERT AGUERO, SURVIVED SURFSIDE BUILDING COLLAPSE: I looked to the left and the apartment is half-sheared off. And I looked right ahead, which is where the elevators are supposed to be and it was just two empty elevator shafts.

BERMAN (voice-over): Michael Stratton told "The Miami Herald" his wife Cassondra, who is still missing, was speaking frantically about the condo building shaking right before the collapse. According to the paper, "She told him she saw a sinkhole where the pool out her window used to be. Then the line went dead."

Emergency crews worked to pull at least 35 people from the part of the structure still standing. But as the first hours of the rescue effort turned into days, buses transported families of the missing to the site of the tragedy for the first time Sunday.

And just around the corner, the photos and names of the missing are posted at this memorial as their loved ones wait for any answers.

JOSH SPIEGEL, MOTHER MISSING AFTER SURFSIDE BUILDING COLLAPSE: I'm scared to death. I just want my mom back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know.

SPIEGEL: And we're praying as much as possible.

BERMAN (voice-over): Hope -- no matter how small, the community says they're trying to hold on no matter how difficult.

MAYOR CHARLES BURKETT, SURFSIDE, FLORIDA: We just need a few more miracles each day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Oh.

BERMAN: They need a few more miracles each day.

And what they're doing as they dig through the rubble, they now have this trench, which is making it easier to operate. And they're creating holes now -- the fire marshal told us -- and they're putting dogs into those holes to do the work that these sniffer dogs do. And they're still hoping, Erica, that they find any sign of life.

HILL: Yes. I mean, so many people holding out hope not just there on the ground but, of course, really around the country and around the world.

There is, John, this new reporting we've been talking about this morning. There's been a lot of talk about -- as you highlighted in that report -- this report from 2018 about the structural integrity of the building and what was happening at that point, and that's raising some new questions this morning.

BERMAN: It really is. Look, this report in 2018 said there was major damage underneath the pool and in the parking area to the concrete, to some of the rebar spalling, which means that the metal there was corroding and expanding there. It didn't say that the repairs needed to be done immediately. It didn't say that there was a risk of the building falling down.

But now, as engineers have been looking at the video, they're telling "The New York Times" -- the video of the building collapsing -- they're telling "The New York Times" and "The Miami Herald" it looks to them -- to their eyes that the collapse started at the bottom. Maybe it was in that pool area. Maybe it was in the lower levels. We're showing the video of it right now.

And what that means -- in addition to explaining maybe why the building collapsed -- is it helps explain the type of collapse that they're seeing -- this pancaking where everything falls on top of itself. Where there aren't these voids -- these pockets where it might be easier for people to sustain life over four or five days.

So all of this is coming together. I'm not sure we'll ever know for sure -- at least not quickly what happened -- but this is what engineers are saying, Erica.

[07:45:03]

HILL: Absolutely.

John, thank you. Incredible interviews this morning and I know there's much more to come.

We are also following what's happening in Washington this morning. President Biden's delicate tightrope walk through Congress -- his infrastructure deal on the line.

And, he's a self-professed student of history but he's not exactly making the grades. CNN puts the facts first, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: While announcing a $1.2 billion bipartisan infrastructure deal last week, President Biden angered Republicans when he appeared to make that deal contingent upon the passage of another larger bill sometime down the road.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not just signing the bipartisan bill and forgetting about the rest I -- that I've proposed. If only comes to me, I'm not -- if this is the only thing that comes to me I'm not signing it. It's in tandem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:50:03]

HILL: Now the president is walking those comments back, saying, "That statement understandably upset some Republicans. My comments also created the impression that I was issuing a veto threat on the very plan I had just agreed to, which was certainly not my intent."

Joining us now, CNN senior political analysts Kirsten Powers and John Avlon.

So now that we've cleared that up that -- that was not at all the intent despite what you may have heard. In all seriousness, this is I think further evidence here of just -- I mean, just how delicate everything is right now. This is teetering. This is not a done deal despite the president also saying we have a deal until it's actually done.

KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Right, yes. No, I think he walked -- he's really walking a tightrope but I think he's doing it very well, actually. He ends up being sort of the perfect person for this time, right, where he has to always be cobbling together these kind of different little -- putting these little puzzle pieces together and trying to make things happen.

And I think also, even when you see his flexibility -- you know, when he kind of comes back and immediately says OK, look, I understand why you'd be upset and we're going to do this and we're going to move things around, and we're going to make this happen.

And so, I think that while he may be somebody that a lot of progressives feel like they're not in line with where he is and they want more from his, I do think people have to look at what he's dealing with. I mean, if you have a problem with what he's doing, you kind of have a problem with math, right?

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: (Laughing).

POWER: I mean, it's like because he really -- he has to try to put things together. He doesn't even really have a majority of Democrats that he can count on.

HILL: But is the concern then, John -- well, certainly among progressives I think it is -- but as you look at sort of who is in control now, does the GOP now have the upper hand?

AVLON: No, but they certainly have disproportional influence when it comes to whether Biden can deliver on bipartisan bills. And that's been the problem from the giddy-up, right, is that -- is that Republicans have not shown a real good-faith willingness to negotiate.

Now, this may be an exception and that's why that announcement on Friday was a very big deal -- the center held (ph). That doesn't mean the far-right and the far-left will come along necessarily. And so that's where Biden said the quiet part out loud. He made a -- he made a misstep and so he had to do some cleanup.

HILL: Well, and we could hear a little bit over the weekend. So, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex speaking out. Let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): In those areas where there is agreement, Republicans are more than welcome to join so that we can get this work on infrastructure done. But that doesn't mean that the president should be limited by Republicans, particularly when we have a House majority, we have 50 Democratic senators, and we have the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Doesn't mean he should be limited by Republicans, but is he being limited?

POWERS: He doesn't have 50 Democrats. That's the problem. And so, he has technically 50 Democrats but he's got two Democrats that he can't count on. So -- you know, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. And so, I think that that's the problem.

Look, her job is to keep pushing him and pushing him and putting the pressure on him. That is what she's supposed to do. And that's the tension and that's how you end up getting, ultimately, the bill that you want to get.

And so, I don't think that means in the end, progressives don't come around and say we're going to -- we're going to accept what you did. But they have to keep pushing hard to try to keep the pressure on him. That's their job.

AVLON: That's right.

HILL: Two more things I do want to get to with both of you.

So, over the weekend, we saw some video of our colleague Jim Acosta speaking with Marjorie Taylor Greene specifically about whether she'd like to be part of this commission looking into what happened on January sixth. Here's that exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Would you like to serve on the committee? Would you like to be on the committee?

REP. MAJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): Sure. She should -- she should put me on the committee. That would be great, you know?

ACOSTA: And you would show up and ask questions and --

GREENE: Absolutely. Of course, I would. I've worked hard all my life and I would work hard there as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: What do you think the chances are?

AVLON: Zero. Should Marjorie Taylor-Greene serve on the January sixth commission? Hell, no. This is ridiculous. I mean, the fact she said I'll show up and ask questions -- OK. I mean, thanks for passing the lowest bar possible.

But her comments in the past have made it clear she is incapable of being anything other than a conspiracy theorist when it comes to January sixth and frankly, anything else. So, no.

POWERS: She can't serve on any other committees. Why should she be on this committee?

AVLON: Right.

POWER: She's been kicked off of other committees, so she's not for one of the most important committees -- she's not qualified to be on there. She's not really qualified to even be in Congress.

So I think that like if it happens, it will be -- it would be terrible. That's all I can say.

HILL: The last thing I do want to touch on with both of you. So, former President Trump, over the weekend, holding a rally where he really went after members of the military, specifically generals. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Earlier this year, the Biden administration issued new rules pushing twisted critical race theory into classrooms across the nation and also into our military. Our generals and our admirals are now focused more on this nonsense than they are on our enemies. You see these generals lately on television? They are woke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:55:07]

HILL: This is -- I mean, this is, though, really an about-face, right, in all seriousness? The Republican Party, for so long, had really wanted to and really establish itself as this very pro -- you know, we're very pro-military.

Though, former President Trump, while he was in office, kept saying all the time, right, who's better than I am when it comes to the military. And now we're seeing this shift not just from him, but from right-wing pundits and hosts on other networks at night.

I mean, how much -- how much could this be a shift within the party?

AVLON: It -- look, it is stunning. I mean, the fact that the military had been the backbone of Republican identity. Were strong on national defense, patriotic. And then you see Gen. Milley standing up -- standing up to Matt Gaetz and saying look, we're not afraid of ideas. And all of a sudden they become public enemy number one.

And it shows how -- you know, hyperpartisanship is a hell of a drug. It will cause Republicans to abandon any principle they ever had -- now including the military.

POWERS: Yes, hyperpartisanship is the nice way of saying it. This is culti behavior --

AVLON: Sure.

POWERS: -- right? It's like this is where you now just slowly abandon -- and this is what -- like a cult leader does. They get you to slowly just abandon every single thing you've ever believed in and you lose your identity, and then your only identity is in the cult leader.

This is -- it started out, honestly, when he was running and he started attacking the Bush family and the Iraq War. And, you know, I -- it's like -- and I was like oh, Republicans will never go along with this. Well, they just went right along with it. And there's just -- there's nothing that used to be sacred to Republicans now that they will not turn on if Donald Trump turns on it.

HILL: Good to have you both here this morning. Thank you.

AVLON: You, too.

HILL: Turning now to North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn, the youngest member of the House and a self-proclaimed history buff who seems to have a loose grasp of historical facts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MADISON CAWTHORN (R-NC): It was Thomas Jefferson that said facts are separate things, and whatever may be our wishes or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: One problem, though. It was actually John Adams who said that, not Thomas Jefferson.

CNN's Daniel Dale here with more. So, what's the context here and just how badly did he get it wrong?

DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: So, the context is that as you saw, this was a prepared address. It wasn't some ad-libbed error in an interview or something. The context is that Congressman Cawthorn keeps making these kinds of errors about historical facts.

And it's pretty significantly wrong. I mean, this is not the end of the world but this is a famous line from John Adams from when, in 1770, he was serving as a defense lawyer for British soldiers who had been charged with murder in the famous Boston Massacre.

HILL: It's also, as you noted, those were prepared remarks. His speech at last summer's Republican Convention -- National Convention also had some issues. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAWTHORN: If you don't think young people can change the world then you just don't know American history. George Washington was 21 when he received his first military commission. Abe Lincoln, 22 when he first ran for office. And my personal favorite, James Madison, was just 25 years old when he signed the Declaration of Independence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Not exactly.

DALE: Somehow, there are three errors in that one paragraph. The big one was that James Madison never signed the Declaration of Independence. But also, George Washington was 20, not 21, when he got his first commission, which was in the Virginia Colonial Militia. And, Abe Lincoln was 23, not 22, when he launched his first campaign for the Illinois Legislature.

HILL: It's also not just about history as we know. Here is what he had to say about orientation back in November.

"I'm a lover of history, so it's incredible to be in a place where we had the vote to decide to have the Emancipation Proclamation, where we decided to go to World War II, where the civil rights battles were fought."

What's his explanation on that one?

DALE: Well, he hasn't explained as far as I know. But there was no vote -- congressional vote to decide to have the Emancipation Proclamation. This was a decision that President Abraham Lincoln made on his own.

Now, there was a congressional resolution and a (audio gap) resolution after he issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation affirming that Congress thought this was a good idea. But again, Congress didn't decide to issue this famous proclamation.

HILL: Some of the errors could be -- I mean, look, it's fair -- could be small slips, right, maybe in the heat of the moment. Maybe it's lack of experience.

But as you look at this as it adds up -- I mean, we'd be ignoring the fact that we're not in this sort of post-truth era for many people when it comes to facts. And it's a page out of the Trump playbook, in many ways.

DALE: Yes. I mean, this is a congressman with an extensive history of false claims -- some little slips like this, some serious stuff about his own past that "The Washington Post" and others have demonstrated to be wrong.

And I think also what we've seen from this congressman is just carelessness or apathy about the facts. It's not like he's trying to lie about who uttered a historical quote. It's that he's not taking the time to research it.

And I think you've seen similar stuff -- like he tweeted.