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The Situation Room

Knicks Beats Spurs in Game 1; Expert Dives into Impact of A.I. on Housing Discrimination; Lawyers for Black Woman Beaten by Officer Urge Stronger Charges. Aired 11:30-12p ET

Aired June 04, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, the Coast Guard has renewed its search in the Bahamas for Lynette Hooker. Her husband has told authorities she fell overboard during rough weather about two months ago. The Coast Guard is investigating the disappearance.

Plus, keeping the claw, President Trump suggests the massive lighting rig behind the White House may stick around. It's there for a UFC match this month on the South Lawn, and it's unclear if Trump was joking about possibly keeping it. The so-called claw is actually taller than the White House, as you see.

And New York police believe the people seen venturing down into the sewers recently are either scavengers or thrill-seekers. A law enforcement official told CNN that investigators are working to I.D. and arrest them. Not sure why anyone would want to go into a sewer, but that's a separate story.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And as I'm sure most of our viewers know, the New York Knicks taking down the San Antonio Spurs in game one last night, clawing back from a 14-point deficit. Our very own Omar Jimenez was outside Madison Square Garden in New York with Knicks super fans, even though the team was playing, what, almost 2,000 miles away. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the reaction after a game one win in the NBA Finals for the New York Knicks. We have been outside Madison Square Garden throughout all of this. And look, if you doubt any of the enthusiasm, even for an away game for the Knicks look no further than the crowd that gathered over the course of this game.

But I want to show you what we've been seeing over the course of this as the celebration really begins here in New York City. It's the beginning of a long series. You know that if you're a basketball fan. But you can't tell the people here who have been chanting, Knicks in four, for hours. I was talking to them beforehand. They were saying, Knicks in four, beforehand, too.

So, this is just the beginning. They got a game one. It came down to a back-and-forth game throughout all of it. But the excitement in New York City is the chance to do something they have not done in over five decades, now that they are back in a place they have not been in more than two decades.

So, moving forward, like we said, it's a long series, but the enthusiasm here, it is not going anywhere. Not going anywhere. You can't go wrong. This is New York. Back to you guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Oh, my goodness. That's amazing.

BLITZER: I think our Omar's having a good time over there outside Madison Square Garden.

BROWN: I think so. The crowd's having a good time with him too.

BLITZER: The Knicks and the Spurs will go head-to-head once again tomorrow night. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:35:00]

BROWN: Turning now to our week-long series here in the Situation Room, Decoding A.I. Today, we are diving into the impact of artificial intelligence on the housing industry. Whether you know it or not, you as a home buyer, seller, renter, or landlord may have either used a technology or it's been used on you. Several voices in the business had high hopes that A.I. would actually reduce discrimination in housing, removing bias and injecting objectivity. But as A.I. becomes more prevalent, it's not clear that's the case.

Joining us now to discuss is Max Gulker. He is the Managing Director of Technology Policy at Reason Foundation, a public policy research group. Max, thanks for coming on. So, first off, explain how A.I. is used in housing in the first place and to what extent the sector has adopted this technology.

MAX GULKER, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY POLICY, REASON FOUNDATION: So, A.I. is heavily being used already in making decisions about renters for an apartment or decisions about loans. But importantly, this is not an issue that's new to this A.I. revolution. We've been using computer algorithms to make these decisions for some years now. And we can't expect A.I. to solve the problems of discrimination that go back to the past. But there is, as you said, some considerable hope that they can learn to pick up patterns in an innovative way and kind of overcome some past discrimination.

[11:40:00]

BROWN: Tell us more about that, what you've seen in terms of housing discrimination and how A.I. either contributes to it in some cases or actually reduces it in some cases.

GULKER: Yes. So, it's important to start by saying that this country has a shameful history of housing discrimination that's intentional and sometimes even led by the government. In the mid-20th century, there was a practice called redlining where the government advised banks systematically to deny lending to neighborhoods where there were large numbers of immigrants or African Americans. And researchers traced how the impact of that often persists to the -- now to this day.

So, today, if somebody applies to rent an apartment or for a loan, and we plug that data, say into A.I. or a computer algorithm, some of the disparity that we might see, for example, between black and white Americans may not be due to the individual and the financial risk they pose. It may be due to this long history and these problems being baked into the data. So, in that way, you could have discriminatory outcomes where there's not even a bad actor intending.

BROWN: All right. And so, tell us more about what the real-world impact of this looks like. You've detailed how specific renters, for example, have grappled with this issue. Shed some light on that for our viewers.

GULKER: Yes. So, you know, again, there are, you know, these disparities persist for a long time. And this is not an issue where I think A.I. is causing this. These are computer algorithms that go back a long time. But as we continue to innovate with A.I.

It's important to note that we already have anti-discrimination laws on the books. And we need to vigorously enforce those laws while we allow people to innovate and open up these possibilities and this prosperity from this new technology.

BROWN: Yes. Tell us more about that, the existing laws on the books at both the state and federal level and how they combat or contribute to A.I. housing discrimination.

GULKER: So, you know, people say at times that A.I. is unregulated, but that isn't really true. The existing laws that we have apply to A.I. just like they would to any other technology. And, you know, there was a class action suit several years ago with a firm called Safe Rent Solutions where they found that this was an older algorithm than A.I., but it was used in ways that were found to be negligent or have a discriminatory outcome. And those laws were sufficient to prosecute that and enforce that.

And so, we can enforce our anti-discrimination laws with what's on the books. And while A.I. perhaps opens up new possibilities in using these algorithms, I think that with time and particularly attention paid to this, the chance of it solving some of these problems in ways that older algorithms couldn't is more than it potentially adding to these problems. But we do need to be careful and, you know, take stock of this as we see how this technology evolves.

BROWN: For certain, because it's evolving so quickly. Max Gulker, thank you so much.

GULKER: It sure is.

BROWN: And don't miss the final day of our week-long series, Decoding A.I. We'll look at how the technology is transforming Hollywood. That's tomorrow here in the Situation Room. And we'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:00]

BLITZER: Happening now, attorneys for a North Carolina woman who was repeatedly punched during a police arrest are pushing for stronger charges. The video of the incident last Friday has prompted public backlash and protests. It's unclear what happened in the moments before the incident. We want to warn our viewers right now, what you're about to see is disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You should have a warrant. I don't have a warrant. I don't have a warrant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me go. Let go. Let go. I got him. I got him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, hold on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands behind your back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't have a warrant or anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: It's so difficult to watch that. The officer, 22-year-old Karson Hyder, was fired after this video surfaced. He was also charged with assault, inflicting serious injury. CNN has tried to reach Hyder for comment.

Joining us now is Gregory Moore, the father of Cherrie Moore, the woman you just saw there in the video, and her uncle, Bishop Michael Moore, and attorney Ben Crump. Thank you all for coming on. I know it's probably hard every time you see that video.

But, Gregory, I want to start with you and just, I want to know how you and your daughter, Cherrie, are doing.

GREGORY MOORE, FATHER OF CHERRIE MOORE: Well, it's rough on us. We're doing -- it's not good. So, I'm having bad times every day since that happened.

BROWN: Yes, I imagine.

BLITZER: It's so sad. It's so sad you see that video of that police officer punching your daughter like that. Bishop Moore, has your family heard from the Shelby Police Department since that video surfaced?

MICHAEL MOORE, UNCLE OF CHERRIE MOORE: Since you asked, and it's been one week as of tomorrow, and we have not heard anything.

[11:50:00]

And I really would have thought that someone would have contacted me because I know the chief, I know the mayor, these men personally, city managers. We have not heard from anyone. So, we are appalled even at that.

BLITZER: Yes, good point. Ben Crump, walk us through the charges. This former not former police officers currently facing and what charges are you pushing for instead?

BEN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR CHERRIE MOORE: You know, Wolf, it is just Inhumane how he savagely beat this black woman who, from the video, is posing no threat to him. She weighs a 110 pounds. He punched her 10 times. And we believe, because he broke her nose, caused contusions to both her eyes, busted her lips in that savage excessive force. We think these charges should be raised to a felony assault with significant bodily injuries. Not a misdemeanor.

BROWN: So, you feel like accountability is still not there yet for this officer is what I'm hearing?

CRUMP: Absolutely not, Pamela. You know, obviously, this is a black woman. We can only ponder if this was a white woman what the charges would be. And the community is in such outrage because we live with the legacy of the words of Malcolm X when he said, the most unprotected, the most neglected and the most disrespected person in America is a black woman. And in 2026 for a police officer to savagely beat her and then be given a slap on the wrist with a misdemeanor charge is an insult. We need to make sure no officer would dare do this again to another a black woman -- no woman at all.

BROWN: And, Gregory, you have said that your daughter has struggled with mental health and in the full video of the incident she's heard asking for mental health care, saying she's off for medication. She also asked the officers to call you. How are you feeling when you heard it happened and saw that?

G. MOORE: It was sad that I couldn't reach out there for, you know, it's hurt me, you know. I couldn't reach out there to help her, and that's -- that just broke me down there. He was very close very. Very close.

BLITZER: Yes. Very sad indeed. Bishop Moore, what sort of impact has this had on the broader community in Shelby?

M. MOORE: The entire community is really at an unrest right now. I can imagine the phone calls my brother's been getting, but I've been getting calls from all over about how angry they are not only from North Carolina, but from Ohio, from Florida, from South Carolina, from Virginia. I mean, people from everywhere have called me, some they don't even know me. They found me through Facebook. So, the community is upset to say the least.

BLITZER: We're showing some video --

M. MOORE: Something's got to be done.

BLITZER: We're showing some video of the protests that were occurring over the weekend. I assume that might continue, right? M. MOORE: It will. And we've asked them to make sure that it's peaceful. A peaceful protest but to continue to protest. So, yes, more will happen.

BROWN: Yes. And, Gregory, how do you see this case setting a precedent for how law enforcement officers respond to individuals experiencing a mental health crisis more broadly?

G. MOORE: Well, he she was calling out and letting him know that she need her medicine, she need to go to mental health, call my daddy, call mental health, call crisis, and he just didn't care. He just kept on hitting her.

BLITZER: Ben Crump, I want to note that Cherrie's charges related to resisting a public officer an assault on a government official have been dropped. But earlier this week, it was noted that another charge for breaking and entering was still pending. So, where does all this stand right now?

CRUMP: You know, we know very little information because nobody from the government has reached out to us. But we do know when people have mental health issues, they should not be treated like criminal issues, Wolf Blitzer. But too often in America when black people and brown people have mental health issues they are seen as criminal issues and they try to lock them up without ever addressing the issue.

So, hopefully this tragedy involving Cherrie Moore should be a teachable moment for America that we can do better with engaging with mental health our citizens.

BROWN: And hopefully Cherrie is getting the help she needs on that front. Michael, how is she feeling being at the center of this?

M. MOORE: She is -- she's numb. She's numb.

[11:55:00]

And I've asked my brother, what is she saying about this? Michael, she don't know what to say. She's numb to it. She's hurting. She's not talking at all. She really don't know -- her mental illness is serious. It's more serious than you could ever imagine.

So, as I said early, I don't even know if she still realizes the severity of what's going on right now. What has really happened to her and the impact is going to be for a long time.

BROWN: Yes. Well, our hearts go out to you all and her as she tries to process what happened here. Gregory Moore, Michael Moore, and Ben Crump, thank you.

BLITZER: And thanks for me as well. And finally, this hour a new upcoming book is delving into a harrowing event in the Nazi's most infamous concentration camp. "Miracle: The Boys Who Escaped the Gas Chamber at Auschwitz" recounts testimonies from six Holocaust survivors whose seconds before death were suddenly given a reprieve before others standing beside them were murdered. One of the book's co-authors is joining us right now the rabbi and Holocaust education Specialist Naftali Schiff. Rabbi Schiff, thanks so much for being with us. What made you want to write this important book, and I'll show it to our viewers once again, entitled, "Miracle: The Boys Who Escaped the Gas Chamber at Auschwitz"?

RABBI NAFTALI SCHIFF, AUTHOR, "MIRACLE: THE BOYS WHO ESCAPED THE GAS CHAMBER AT AUSCHWITZ AND HOLOCAUST EDUCATION SPECIALIST: Good morning Wolf. Good morning, Pamela, you know, I'm glad that I listened to the few minutes before this interview because that's exactly why we wanted to bring this story to light.

This is a story of the Holocaust. This is a story of Auschwitz. This happens to be a tiny but enormous story that ended up happily for 50 boys, and I interviewed six of them. But the -- you know, Jewish people for the last 80 years grew up with the adage never again. Never again doesn't just -- you know, never again will people put people in gas chambers, will people indiscriminately hate for the sake of religion or color or race.

And, you know, I just came off your story about this poor young lady, Cherrie Moore. You don't need to be a bishop, you don't need to be a rabbi, it doesn't matter if you're black or white, it doesn't matter if you're Jewish or anything else, human beings need today to stand up for that which is right. And that's what this story is about. If we let evil run loose indiscriminately then never again will be an empty phrase and the world go back to the jungle.

BLITZER: And this book is a really powerful book and it's also very personal for me, Rabbi. It was very moving when I visited Auschwitz. I went on the march of the living from Auschwitz to Birkenau a few years ago and I saw in that gas chamber where my own grandparents were put to death. What was it like when you personally interviewed some of the survivors of these atrocities?

SCHIFF: For me the incredible thing about these survivors is their authenticity and the drive to live and their energy and there's just this incredible passion to get up and build again. They were people who literally there we -- as you said, they were in those gas chambers. 50 boys were reprieved at the last moment. It's -- the story is absolutely incredible. It's a story I've interviewed hundreds of survivors, never come across a story like this.

But when you touch the lives of these sick boys who were so close to death, they were stripped naked, they were pushed in the gas chambers, the doors were closed, and at the last moment they came out. It's an incredible story that everybody has to read. But in reading this you absolutely touch the depths of evil and the greatness of human beings to choose life.

And not only did these kids at the time, they were they were teenagers, not only did they choose life and they -- you know, when they came out of the gas chambers, they -- it was a Jewish festival. It was actually the same festival as October the 7th. It was Simchat Torah, a Jewish festival, which should be a very happy time. And as soon as they got out, they sang and they danced about the future. And On January the 17th when they were led out of Auschwitz on the infamous death march with everybody fooling like flies around them, these guys carried on. And you know, I asked them, how did you carry on? And each one of them said to be the same answer and they were -- all over the world they -- you know corroborated stories they said, Naftali, one step at a time, one step at a time.

And that resilience is something that unfortunately young people today don't have. We're all suffering with anxiety, et cetera, et cetera. These people have a resilience and a persistence and a drive to live. And I think that's a choice, in the same way as it's a choice to do good or to do bad, to be selfish or to live a life of giving and sharing and caring --

[12:00:00]