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New Day Sunday

Out-Of-Control Chinese Rocket Crashes Back Down To Earth; Two Women And Four-Year-Old Girl Hurt In Times Square Shooting; Cyberattack Forces Temporary Shutdown Of Major U.S. Fuel Pipeline; CDC: More Than 112 Million Americans Now Fully Vaccinated; Biden Meets With Republicans As House GOP Votes On Representative Liz Cheney; Biden Urges Passage Of Economic Proposals In Wake Of Jobs Report. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired May 09, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:22]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to your NEW DAY. I'm Boris Sanchez. Hi, Christi.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Boris. I'm Christi Paul. Let's talk about what went up and finally came down. Where officials think that out-of-control Chinese rocket finally landed after hours of uncertainty.

SANCHEZ: Plus, New York police searching for a gunman after a shooting in Times Square that injured three people including a four-year-old girl. We're going to break down what we know about how all of this began.

PAUL: And a cyberattack forces the shutdown of one of the country's largest gas pipelines. The concerns and potential impacts reach all the way to the White House.

SANCHEZ: And live from New York it's Elon Musk. The controversial billionaire taking his turn as host of SNL and not wasting any time diving in his controversial lifestyle.

PAUL: Good morning to you. It is Sunday, May 9th. We are so grateful you're waking up with us and happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there.

SANCHEZ: Happy Mother's Day to you, Christi.

PAUL: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course, of course.

PAUL: Boris sent me some cookies to remind me. That's all I needed.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Something sweet to add to the weekend. Of course, of course.

Look, the hours of guessing and uncertainty are over and staring out your window wondering if it's going to land on your house, that out of control Chinese rocket making a crash landing overnight.

PAUL: We know U.S. Space Command has confirmed the Long March 5B rocket reentered the Earth's atmosphere over the Arabian Peninsula. Now, images of it -- of its fall were posted across social media. And I know that doesn't look like a whole lot there. It just looks like a big black dot, but there is something in the middle of it.

It is likely, most of the 20 ton rocket burned up as it sped to the ground. Hence, that kind of fuzzy view you see there. But this morning, where exactly the debris may have landed is in question in terms of an exact pinpoint.

Will Ripley is with us from Hong Kong. So, Will, we know Chinese officials say it crash landed in the Indian Ocean near the Maldives, this group of populated islands. What else are you learning from them?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, we only have to go on China's statement, taking their word for it, if you will, that in fact this 22 ton hunk of metal, the size of a 10-story building, the weight of one- fifth of the Statue of Liberty, this little dot right here, that's even hard for me to see on my big screen, supposedly China says went down just near the Maldives which are southwest of India and Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean.

Now, space agencies like to go down in the Indian Ocean but they go a lot farther south to areas far away from shipping lanes and people. This was way too close for comfort, and the fact that just hours before this apparent splash down near the Maldives, we had no idea where this debris would fall.

Now, a Japanese astronomer took a little bit of a better picture than some of these social media images that came from Saudi Arabia and Israel and Jerusalem over the weekend. He took it with his telescope and you can see how the object was really spinning as it violently shot across the Earth in multiple orbits, 18,000 miles an hour, that's why it was so difficult to actually pinpoint where the final -- the final reentry would take place.

That's why the United States and Europe and China all had different projections as to who might be impacted. And there were densely populated areas in the possible zone, including at one point, New York, other cities in the United States, and then all the way down to Australia, and New Zealand.

So in the end, even though it did go down in the ocean, which China said they were confident it would, that's only because they were playing a game of the odds. More than 70 percent of the Earth is ocean, and a lot of the land that this would have passed over is not densely populated. But had things turned out differently, we could be having a very different conversation this morning.

So, how did this happen in a day of modern space flight? Because China's rocket, the Long March 5B, which is massive -- you're talking about the sides of a 10-story building. It was launched on April 29th to put the first module of their space station up in orbit. And unlike more advanced space agencies like the United States, which

when they launch something this big they control the reentry and they make sure that it goes down in an area that's safe.

China's design some analysts say essentially did it a little more efficiently. Some have said cutting corners, if you will. So to a more cheaply and effectively get things up they just take a chance. They played the odds about where it's going to come down.

And so even though Beijing is now saying, look, we told you so, this thing, was just hurdling through the sky above a lot of different countries, a lot of people's homes making a lot of people nervous on social media, in the end, it did go down in the water.

[06:05:11]

But NASA's administrator Senator Bill Nelson put out a scathing statement overnight on NASA's Web site saying that -- quote -- "Spacefaring nations must minimize the risks to people and property on Earth of re-entries of space objects and maximize transparency regarding those operation." He said it's clear in this case, Boris and Christi, that China failed to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Well, China may be playing the odds, but they played the odds before include last year when a chunk of used rocket landed in a village in the Ivory Coast in Africa. Will Ripley, we appreciate the insight. Thanks so much.

We want to pivot now to New York and the hunt for a gunman who shot three people, one of them a four-year-old girl. All of this happening in the middle of Times Square.

PAUL: Yes. Police say the shooting started as a dispute involving a group of men, and at least one of those men pulled out a gun and started firing. Shooting incidents and gun violence exploded in New York last year. They've continued to surge in 2021, but police say the city is still safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DERMOT SHEA, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: We have been taking guns off the street in New York City at an alarming rate over the last two years, and it's time now that we have consequences for those.

I remember when the city was very bad, the men and women of this department brought this city back. It is still a safe city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's get to CNN's Alison Kosik now. Alison, police say they're looking for a person of interest in the case but first I'm curious about the victims. It sounds like they're all going to be OK.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police do say, Boris, that all of those victims, all three will survive. And you're right, the NYPD is still searching for the suspect in that shooting that happened about three blocks behind me yesterday afternoon right here in the middle of the iconic Times Square.

Let me tell you about the victims, yes, they included a four-year-old girl from Brooklyn who was here in Times Square shopping at a toy store for toys with her family. They also included a 23-year-old woman from Rhode Island visiting. She was a tourist. And then a 43-year-old woman from New Jersey.

The Rhode Island woman shot in the leg. She's expected to be OK as well. And the New Jersey woman shot in her foot. She is expected to be OK. Additionally, the young girl is expected to have needed surgery.

This all began yesterday afternoon, a few minutes before 5:00. Police already were in the area. They responded to shots, sending pedestrians fleeing from the area. Witnesses say this started between two to four men who were having an argument on the street and in the middle of the dispute one of the men pulled out a gun. I want you to listen to NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEA: How many kids have to be shot before we take this seriously? How many more kids do we need to be shot before we realize that bad policies have consequences? And we need action and we need policies regarding laws to have consequences for the arrests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Unfortunately, lately New York City is becoming no stranger to gun violence and shooting incidents. Shooting incidents and gun violence exploded in New York City last year and have continued to surge this year. According to New York Police Department Crime Statistics, shooting incidents this year skyrocketed 83 percent through May 2nd.

And if you look at the first three months of this year, January, February and March, New York City citywide has seen 300, about 300 shooting incidents. So I know that we were hearing about officials talking about the city is still safe but there is a concern about these rising numbers -- Boris and Christi.

PAUL: Alison Kosik, we appreciate it so much. Thank you, Alison.

So a cyberattack has forced one of the U.S.'s largest fuel pipelines to halt operations. Colonial Pipeline says the incident involves ransomware. It has proactively taken some systems offline in order to try to contain the threat.

Now, Colonial says it transports about 45 percent of all fuel consumed on the East Coast. That's about 100 million gallons daily from Houston to the New York harbor. Its two main pipelines span 5,500 miles.

So President Biden we know has been briefed on the situation. The attack happens just weeks after his administration launched this effort to beef up cyber security around the nation's power grid. Let's talk to this with Garrett Graff. He's a contributing editor for "Wired" and the director of the Cyber Initiatives with the Aspen Institute. Garrett, so good to have you with us again. Thank you for being here.

I wanted to ask you, you know, when people hear about a cyberattack often times one of the first things they think of is who's behind it. Is it another country? Is it a terrorist organization?

[06:10:00]

Based on what we know, who do you believe may be behind this?

GARRETT GRAFF, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: So, we believe that this is an operation that has been carried out by a criminal group known as DarkSide, which has roots in eastern Europe, likely operating from Russia, and potentially even with the OK of Russian intelligence services, which is something we have seen a lot of transnational organized crime groups do in recent years.

Basically, operate under the cover and with the protection of Russian intelligence services even as they carry out criminal schemes like this.

PAUL: So help us understand the inner workers of these plots, Garrett. How vulnerable is the U.S. and in what sectors particularly is that vulnerability say in infrastructure?

GRAFF: Yes, so we have seen an absolute explosion of these ransomware attacks since the pandemic began. First, driven by the move to remote work and the way that that increased the so called attack surface.

You know, operations that were normally being carried out on corporate networks that were secured within offices were now being taken place with much less secure computer systems operating from home, exposing more companies and operations to the possibility of ransomware attacks.

And then part of what makes ransomware attacks so pernicious is that they build on one another, that ransomware attacks really are a business. And so you have these (INAUDIBLE) customer service to encourage companies to simply pay the ransom and then unencrypt their systems and sort of let them get back to work. And in fact many companies, many people hit by ransomware find it easier to pay the ransom than to try to restore their systems otherwise.

That money goes right back into improving the sophistication and capabilities of the ransomware groups. And so we have seen, you know, these groups for the last 18 months or so powered by enormous sums of money that has allowed them to carry out very sophisticated attacks at a level U.S. intelligence official says is now equal to the threat from major nation states like Russia and China itself.

PAUL: So somebody sitting at home right now, and I would love to get into the, you know, how do you pay it, and how do you know where it goes without being able to track who's behind it kind of thing, but I think there may be people at home sitting there thinking, I have been working from home, I have been using this equipment. How vulnerable am I personally?

GRAFF: So part of what makes it so interesting is that it is a business. And so a group like DarkSide, if that's actually what is behind this particular attack against Colonial Pipeline, is likely targeting major businesses like Colonial particularly because they know that they can pay. And in fact, we have seen DarkSide in the past release what they call ethical guidelines for their attacks to ensure that they are not targeting, for instance, hospitals, that they are targeting customers based on their ability to pay instead.

And so if you are sitting at home, you are probably not that at risk for a major transnational organized crime group like this, although that's not to say that you're not at risk for sort of smaller, more opportunistic groups. But this is an organization, you know, that has -- as I said, very sophisticated customer support.

There are chat rooms where you can go and talk to them about how to set up the cryptocurrency wallets that you will need to pay them, where the money should go. You know, they're happy to walk you through every step of the way to help them get paid at the end and get your system back.

PAUL: And the fact that they get paid for it I think is what is so astounding. Garrett Graff, so good to have you expertise. We really appreciate you. Thank you.

GRAFF: Happy Mother's Day.

PAUL: Thank you very much. I will receive that gladly. Thank you, Garrett.

So, listen, still to come, the average number of coronavirus vaccinations hits its lowest number since early March. What is behind the drop off in the shots?

SANCHEZ: Plus, a pivotal week ahead for the Republican Party as the GOP plots the path forward and who's going to lead that effort.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:18:54]

SANCHEZ: Now, so far the U.S. has had some success with vaccinations, more than 112 million Americans, nearly a third of the population is now fully vaccinated. But that number is still far below where this country needs to be to reach herd immunity.

PAUL: This is happening while the demand for shots is falling. For the first time since early March, the 7-day average of U.S. vaccine doses that were administered dipped below 2 million.

SANCHEZ: Yes and it doesn't look like the country is on pace to meet the president's goal of administering at least one dose to 70 percent of American adults by Independence Day. So far, only four states, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Vermont have hit that goal.

PAUL: CNN's Natasha Chen has more from the FEMA vaccination site in Norfolk, Virginia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Taking a stand to end the pandemic, celebrities joined together during the Global Citizen Vax Live telecast --

PRINCE HARRY: And that is our starting point.

CHEN: -- and urged for greater access to COVID-19 vaccines. And in prerecorded remarks, President Joe Biden joined in with his appeal for Americans to get vaccinated.

[06:20:04]

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The vaccines are safe. I promise you, they're safe. They work. Everybody in America 16 years old and older is now eligible to get vaccinated for free now.

CHEN: The seven-day average of doses administered now sits at 1.9 million. The last time the daily average was below 2 million was March 2nd according to data published Saturday by the CDC. It's an indicator that vaccinations are gradually slowing and the U.S. remains far short of the levels of immunization needed to reach herd immunity.

About 113 million people or at least a third of the population have been fully vaccinated per CDC data. About 45.6 percent of the population or 151 million people have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

JEFFREY ZIENTS, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: We're focused on three key areas. First, improving access in making it even easier for everyone to get vaccinated. Second, building confidence, vaccine confidence by empowering every American with facts and answering their questions. And third, ensuring equity is at the center of everything we do.

CHEN: Health officials are preparing for making COVID-19 vaccines a regular thing. CDC researchers are determining whether it will be necessary to give regular booster shots, similar to flu vaccines to address specific variants like the one first discovered in India.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we're going to see data come out even in the coming weeks. I have seen some early data, which actually is quite relieving and confirming that shows that this variant, while certainly causing more trouble, is not nearly as troublesome as say, for example, the South African vaccine -- I'm sorry, variant. Therefore, it looks like we're going to get very good levels of protection from our current vaccines.

I think we'll see that confirmed over the coming weeks. But Americans should expect that if they're not vaccinated, they're going to be more exposed. If they are vaccinated, I think they can look at these variants and there's going to be very good levels of protection so far.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHEN: Right now, teenagers 16 and over can get a Pfizer vaccine at vaccination sites like at the one behind us. But early this week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could approve the use of the Pfizer vaccine in people 12 to 15 years old. The FDA is currently reviewing data from Pfizer. In late march, Pfizer said that clinical trials with more than 2,200 children and teens aged 12 to 15 showed the vaccine was 100 percent effective and was well tolerated.

Christi and Boris, back to you.

SANCHEZ: An important development. Natasha Chen reporting from Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Thank you.

After a dismal jobs report, President Biden is set to meet with bipartisan lawmakers this week to push his ambitious agenda. With opposition that will not likely meet in the middle on anything, can Democrats work around Republicans? We'll discuss, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:27:21]

PAUL: Well, two big clashes expected this week in Washington and both may reveal an awful lot about the state of U.S. politics right now.

SANCHEZ: Yes. President Biden's economic agenda is at stake as he gets ready to host a pair of meetings with lawmakers and that includes bipartisan outreach to a group of Republican senators with a disappointing jobs report now looming large.

PAUL: Before that, President Biden is going to be face-to-face with a group that includes House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. And on that very same day we may learn the fate of Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney and her leadership role in the Republican conference.

SANCHEZ: Yes, a lot riding on what happens in Washington this week. So, let's start at the White House with the pitch that President Biden is going to be making to lawmakers on jobs and on infrastructure.

CNN's Jasmine Wright is live from the White House. Jasmine, walk us through Biden's goals for this week.

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, President Biden is looking for compromise on his multi-trillion dollar economic agenda this week and really he's looking for it anywhere he can get it. That is going to be the goal, Boris and Christi.

So, President Biden will try to find it first in that Big Four congressional meeting with House -- excuse me -- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader McConnell, and House Minority Leader McCarthy.

That is on Wednesday and it will be the first time that McConnell and McCarthy visit the Oval Office since President Biden took office, an administration official says. And also it comes just days after McConnell basically threatened to oppose President Biden's economic agenda.

So, no doubt that will be a fascinating conversation. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday that President Biden is looking to talk about how to put Americans back to work, particularly after that really dismal jobs report, no doubt trying to talk about his multi-trillion dollar infrastructure and jobs package. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He's hoping to talk about ways that we can work together to put people back to work, to ensure we are making our workforce more competitive to competing with China. And he's hoping that these leaders will come together and join him in the Oval Office to have a discussion about doing exactly that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: Now, on Thursday, President Biden will face a different group, a room full of all Republicans. He invited Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito to the White House. She efforted that Republican counter proposal that came in just a fraction of the price of President Biden's initial multi-trillion dollar asking price. And she's going to bring along with her a gang of Republicans, and they will sit down and talk about this bill.

[06:30:00]

But, again, like I said, President Biden is looking for compromise, but the question going into next week is one, will he be able to find it, but two, what that compromise actually looks like? Is it really halfway? Boris and Christi, that's going to be the question.

PAUL: Yes, that is the truth. Jasmine Wright at the White House for us, always good to see you. Thank you, Jasmine.

So, talking about something or pivoting from what she is just saying there about the Biden White House, bracing for this friction with Republicans over their economic agenda, the GOP is getting into those negotiations with tensions that they have there within their ranks.

SANCHEZ: Yes. A vote on the fate of House Conference Chair Liz Cheney should reveal a lot about the state of the party this week. And CNN's Daniella Diaz joins us now live from Capitol Hill to talk about that. Daniella, at this point, it seems like it's a question of when Liz Cheney is going to get booted out of leadership and not if, right?

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Boris, it's all but certain that she will lose her leadership position as soon as next Wednesday. She's the number three House Republican and she has lost a lot of allies in the last couple of weeks because she's been so vocal about her criticism of former President Donald Trump and his repeated lie that the election was stolen from him, a lie that is actually also spread by many of her colleagues in the Republican conference.

And she's blasted her colleagues too for objecting to the election results on January 6th, so all of this criticism now mounting to her possibly being ousted from her leadership position and replaced by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York, a more moderate Congresswoman, interesting enough.

She actually broke with Trump on many votes including tax cuts, the border wall, the environment, Afghanistan, but she's a very strong Trump ally beginning in his first impeachment trial, unlike Cheney, even though Congresswoman Cheney actually is more conservative and voted more with Trump in her tenure.

But she is lining up right now, Elise Stefanik, to replace Congresswoman Cheney as the number three House Republican and actually criticize Cheney without naming her in an interview yesterday where she said that Cheney is not playing the role she needs to play as the number three House Republican spreading the message of the party. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ELISE STEFANIK (R-NY): The role of the conference chair who's elected by all the Republican members of Congress, you speak with a unified voice for the majority of Republican members. And there has been significant frustration among the members of the Republican conference that she is no longer doing that. And we hear that frustration at home among voters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAZ: Congresswoman Cheney has been very clear with her allies, her few allies, that she's comfortable with the fact that she's going to be ousted for her position because she feels that what she's saying about Trump and the criticism she has for the party is bigger than her, that this is all part of a bigger search for the sole of the Republican Party.

But I do want to note that Stefanik has also told some of her allies that she's only planning to have this position as the GOP conference chair just for this Congress, the next two years, because in 2022, she's hoping she could get the top job on the House Education and Labor Committee. So, we might be having this conversation again on who will have this role in the next two years. Boris, Christi.

SANCHEZ: Yes, Daniella, I find it interesting Stefanik is talking about speaking in a unified voice. But it's not unity on policy, it's unity on placating the former president. Daniela Diaz reporting from Capitol Hill, thank you so much.

We've got a lot to discuss here, so let's bring in Lynn Sweet. She's the Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times. Lynn, always a pleasure to see you. Thank you so much for sharing some of your Sunday morning with us. It looks like Congresswoman Liz Cheney's days in leadership are numbered and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik is the all but certain pick to replace her. I want to play some sound from Congressman Adam Kinzinger from your home state of Illinois. He describes the moment that we're in. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): I was friends with her. I've been -- I've been saddened with kind of this evolution because Elise, I think, is the exact kind of leader of the party needs to lead people away from this dark moment we're in. The party is not just me. They're going to make a decision.

And quite honestly, if we go the route of the big lie and Donald Trump, you may get a temporary hit, maybe you'll win the majority. I don't know. I don't think you will. But I guarantee you in the long arc of history, this is not going to bode well for Republicans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Now, Lynn, you knew Elise Stefanik from her time at Harvard. She's very different now. I'm curious what you think about the arc of her political career and the larger picture, the bigger arc of where the Republican Party is moving toward.

LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: OK, good morning, Boris. Thanks for asking me about Elise because it is a puzzling transformation. So, I met her in 2004 when she was one of the leaders at Harvard's Institute of Politics, and I was one of the fellows there. And she was independent-minded, wonky, known as smart. She was well-liked by everyone, and not particularly an ideologue.

[06:35:17]

Was she ambitious? Yes, but you know, everyone there, you know, was ambitious, if you were in leadership at the Institute of Politics. What is puzzling is that she is not the person I knew. And I saw this transformation when I covered Trump's first impeachment trial.

And it's one thing to advocate against the Democratic position, or to try and poke holes in a witness. But she, you could see the beginning of the trajectory when she embraced basically Trump talking points.

And here's one other thing that I think she well knows, especially in Trump's first impeachment, Boris. The Republicans don't have many women. So, to find a young woman who was seen as a moderate, you know, now we'll discuss whether or not this moderate voting record really helps her if she gets the leadership.

They were happy to put her out front and she was happy to be there. That really by anything, she accomplished legislatively, but because she was willing to take a lead in defending President Trump.

So, where are we parked out now? The person who I knew who really believed in credible facts, talking about real-world politics, is now being vaulted into leadership because she is embracing the lie that President Trump is peddling that the election was rigged against him. And as I said, that's just not the Elise that I knew when she was a student in 2004.

SANCHEZ: That leads me to my next question because it's sort of ambiguous how many Republicans actually believe the big lie and how many are just repeating it for political advantage. And I want to read you a portion of a report on the Chaney-Trump saga from "The New York Times."

They write, "The small number of Republican officials who have been critical of Mr. Trump in the past, including the 10 who voted for his impeachment in February remained largely silent this week, refusing interview requests, and offering little public support for Mrs. Cheney."

I'm a bit amused when I hear that there's a fight or a civil war for control of the Republican Party for the soul of the GOP because it's so lopsided in favor of the former president. But in private, you hear very different things.

SWEET: Well, right. And as you mentioned, I cover Congressman Adam Kinzinger very closely because he is from Illinois and he has this whole country first movement, and he is one of the people willing to consistently speak out and go on shows and basically denounce these crazy conspiracy theories.

Privately, I understand because of the people who I cover who don't want to talk about this. They bury their head in the sand, and they want to not realize what is the real reason you're going after Cheney? It's not because she's not speaking in one voice, if that voice is peddling this election lie. They know the difference.

And I would think, you know, that's the reason in the sense why -- you know what Adam Kinzinger is doing is valuable because at least he is willing to assess the situation realistically. Just think, Boris, this is a Republican caucus that is willing to keep within its ranks with no problem Congresswoman Greene from Georgia, but there's no tolerance for Liz Cheney from Wyoming.

So, yeah, I predict as everyone is that she'll be booted out this week, but perhaps Liz Cheney on the loose might be even more outspoken than Liz Cheney who's part of leadership.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it certainly says something when QAnon and space lasers are more acceptable within a party than someone who actually tells the truth. Lynn Sweet, we have delivered there.

SWEET: Yes, and she's being punished for it too.

SANCHEZ: Right, precisely. Lynn Sweet, thank you so much. We appreciate your time.

SWEET: And thank you.

PAUL: So, there are dozens of people injured after what is now a second night of violent clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians. Were on the ground with air in Jerusalem and have live report for you next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:00]

PAUL: So, there is a second night of violence in the holy city of Jerusalem. At least 100 Palestinians have been injured in the latest clashes with Israeli police forces there.

SANCHEZ: Yes. According to a Palestinian aid organization, demonstrators were hit with rubber bullets and stun grenades at several locations across the city. The unrest following clashes at a mosque Friday night that left more than 200 people injured. Let's go live to CNN Hadas Gold who is in Jerusalem.

And Hadas, it seems that the violence has reached a boiling point. Do you get the sense that things might be more calm moving forward?

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, Boris. It is a boiling point and possibly even boiling over in the next 24 hours. Last night was al- Qadr, which is the holiest day of Ramadan. And we saw clashes across East Jerusalem. Some of them were at Damascus gate which is an entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem.

And some of them were also in the Sheik Jarrah neighborhood where several Palestinian families are facing possible evictions which they say is because of a series of laws that they say unfairly disadvantages Palestinians.

[06:45:15]

But as you noted, this was the second night of unrest. We saw about 100 Palestinians injured including six of them who under the age of 18. Police say that these protesters were throwing rocks and fireworks at them and that they responded with stun grenades, rubber bullets, and this skunk water, this foul-smelling water, the stench of which remains even to this day when we were out there at Damascus Gate earlier today.

The night before, in Friday night, we saw even more clashes. Those were at the Al Aqsa compound, which is also known as the Temple Mount to Jews. That was a very tense night where we saw more than 200 people injured -- 200 Palestinian protesters injured, 17 Israeli police officers injured.

And we're seeing increased condemnation and concern from the international community from different countries, from the European Union, and also from members of the U.S. Congress who are especially concerned about those possible evictions.

But this is not happening in a vacuum. There's a lot of issues at play here. And there's a special concern about tomorrow because tomorrow is Jerusalem day when Israel marks the day that they took control of the Western world.

We're expecting a march through the Old City. And it is the day we may actually see a court ruling on those possible evictions so many officials are worried that tomorrow will be actually that point where everything just boils over. Boris?

PAUL: All right, Hadas Gold, thank you so much for the report. I appreciate it very much.

So, there was a lot of fanfare and publicity and there you have it, tech billionaire Elon Musk, he made a Saturday Night Live debut last night with jokes about cryptocurrency and a sweet moment with his mom, we should say, who joined him on stage. Brian Stelter is next with that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

SANCHEZ: Tech billionaire Elon Musk hosting SNL for the first time last night amid much fanfare anticipation and controversy. He wasted no time diving straight into addressing several controversial topics surrounding his life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, CEO, TESLA: Look, I know I sometimes say or post strange things but that's just how my brain works. To anyone have offended, I just want to say I reinvented electric cars and I'm sending people to Mars in a rocket ship. Did you think I was also going to be a chill normal dude?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: He also talked about having Asperger's, talk about his son's name, and his mom who joined him on stage for the end of the monologue. CNN Brian Stelter was watching. He's got more with this. Were you expecting all of this, Brian?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think this is really smart booking by SNL to bring in someone controversial and unexpected. Musk does have some really troubling and controversial comments in his past, but he's also this larger-than-life billionaire figure. And SNL is drawing attention, bringing in cultural energy by having him host.

You mentioned he revealed something about his, you know, his background. Here's what he said about having Asperger's.

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MUSK: I'm actually making history as the first person with Asperger's to host SNL or at least the first to admit it. So, i don't make a lot of eye contact with the cast tonight. But normally, I'm pretty good at running human in emulation mode.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: I did like that joke about pretending to be human in emulation mode. There was a lot of comedy that, of course, was tech- oriented. However, some people on the internet, on social media pointed out Dan Aykroyd hosted SNL more than once and talked about having Asperger's. So, musk not technically the first according to SNL superfans.

Look, the tech comedy was all around. Here is Elon Musk joking about his kid's name.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSK: One reason I've always loved SNL is because it's genuinely live. A lot of people don't realize that. We're actually live right now which means I could say something truly shocking, like I drive a Prius.

SNL is also a great way to learn something new about the host. For example, this is my son's name. It's pronounced cat running across the keyboard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: So, these are examples of the internet humor making its way to TV, the melding of broadcast and streaming and digital. This was the first time SNL ever live-streamed all around the world, again, trying to capitalize on Elon Musk's fame. And here's one more moment from the monologue. This is when he brought his mom out for Mother's Day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYE MUSK, MOTHER OF ELON MUSK: Well, breaking tonight, I love you very much.

MUSK: I love you too, mom.

M. MUSK: And I'm excited for my Mother's Day gift. I just hope it's not Dogecoin.

MUSK: It is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: It was in that parody cryptocurrency that people were watching overnight to see if the stock was going to rise, because it was mentioned on SNL, but it actually fell. You never know what's going to go on with SNL or with those strange cryptocurrencies.

But there you go, Elon Musk probably not going to be back on SNL anytime soon. A lot of the jokes fell flat, but it was an interesting experiment by the show.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and quite an interesting choice. Brian Stelter, we appreciate you bringing that down for us. Thanks.

PAUL: Thanks, Brian.

STELTER: Thanks. SANCHEZ: And a quick programming note for you. In this weekend's The Story of Late Night, comedians reflect on how Johnny Carson definitely navigated a turbulent time in American history to elevate the Tonight Show and become the undisputed king of late night. Here's a preview.

[06:55:12]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back behind the curtain, my hands literally like seized up. What's this? I can't feel my hands? They're so paralyzed with fear.

RAY ROMANO, COMEDIAN: It's almost like skydiving. You don't want to go, but once you're out of that plane, you cannot go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know I've been incarcerated. I don't think anything's been as frightening as walking through that curtain of the Tonight Show.

JOHNNY CARSON, FORMER HOST, TONIGHT'S SHOW: This is his first time. Would you welcome Ray Romano. Ray?

ROMANO: Then you walk in, and it looks like it's as casual as hell. And in your head, you're screaming like jumping out of a plane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: "The Story of Late Night" airs tonight right here at 9:00 p.m. on CNN.

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