Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Haley to Vote for Trump; Controversial Flag Over Alito's Vacation Home; State Collapses at Mexico Campaign Rally; Missiles Strike Kharkiv. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired May 23, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

AMBRA BATTILANA GUTIERREZ, WEINSTEIN ACCUSER: If maybe I could have just find the right person to release those recordings, you know, I wouldn't lose everything I lost. And many people would have not been in the position that they are in right now because we could have just finished everything in 2015.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And our thanks to Elizabeth Wagmeister for that report.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump hitting the campaign trail today in deep blue Bronx, New York. One question, why? Another question, will he be thanking Nikki Haley today?

And there's also new video coming in that shows the aftermath of a relentless attack on Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv. Ukraine's president putting the blame for that attack on a lack of air defenses.

And a presidential campaign rally turns into a nightmare. Nine people are dead. Why that candidate in Mexico is facing real questions this morning.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with John Berman. Amara Walker is in for Sara. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

WALKER: All right, this morning, it's not a big surprise that Nikki Haley will vote for Donald Trump, even though she has said he's too old, to unhinged, and to chaotic to be president. But there are big questions from Trump. These numbers matter a lot to Trump right now after Nikki Haley dropped out of the race. She still picked up notable votes in five state primaries. And this morning her message to him is clear, don't assume these voters are with you. Will he thank her and appeal to her voters later today when he heads to the incredibly blue area of the Bronx. He got trounced there in 2020.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is joining me now.

So, Kristen, of course the big question is, will Trump utter those words, Nikki Haley, when he's on that stage tonight.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Amara, there are certainly those in Trump's orbit who hope that he does not only mention her name, but is gracious about it. But I will remind you that they also hoped that he would be gracious when she suspended her campaign, and we saw that he was, well, not really at all.

But when I talked to Republicans across the country, they say they really hope that Donald Trump starts to court these Nikki Haley voters. You put up some of those numbers of Republicans voting in primaries after Haley had dropped out in critical battleground states. The most jarring really being in Pennsylvania where she got 16 percent of the vote. Again, in a state the Donald Trump's team believes they need to win. So, whether or not Donald Trump is going to start courting those voters remains to be seen, but he is going to be up in New York today, in the Bronx, trying to court minority voters.

Now, this was planned before court wrapped on Tuesday. They had tried to plan a series of different events around this state of New York because he could only travel on Wednesdays and Saturdays and Sundays outside of the state when he didn't have court. However, they are doubling down on this rally. They say that there are thousands of people that they expect to be there. We will, obviously, be there to see whether or not that is true.

But Donald Trump has continued to insist that he could win New York, or at least make a play for New York. He even said that last night in a Truth Social post. I will remind you that no Republican has won in the states since 1984.

WALKER: That is a statistic to keep in mind.

All right, Kristen Holmes, thank you very much.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning, new reaction from lawmakers after a report found photos of a second controversial flag, a flag that was used by some January 6th rioters, flying over Justice Samuel Alito's vacation home. Kate spoke with the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Dick Durbin. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): You start to wonder, is this just a chance in discretion, or is it a conscious declaration of his MAGA loyalty? I mean that is not expected. When it comes to the Supreme Court, we expect the men and women on that court to be above this sort of activity.

BOLDUAN: When you say, when you start to wonder, which do you think it is, Senator?

DURBIN: Listen, I don't think it's a coincidence in the second instance. I think he's speaking pretty clearly as to his political loyalties. And it's a shame. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Remember, that's the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

With me now is the former director of strategic communications for Donald Trump's 2020 campaign, Marc Lotter. Also with us, veteran Democratic strategist and consult Simon Rosenberg.

Simon, what do you see going on here?

SIMON ROSENBERG, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST AND CONSULTANT: It's a tragedy. I mean I think the corruption of the judiciary and the Supreme Court is a major issue. I mean this is a now important American institution which appears to be compromised and to be, you know, on the verge of illegitimacy. And it's going to matter.

I mean the simple thing that can happen now, that Alito should do, is he should recuse himself from any of the discussions of January 6th or Trump and the elections.

[09:05:02]

That would be a simple step forward for him to take. And it would relieve, I think, a lot of the concerns about the corruption we've seen with Clarence Thomas and the things that he's done, you know, this year.

But this is a - it's a crisis. I think we're in an - we have a crisis in one of our most important institutions and it's something that we have to discuss and it's going to be a major part of the conversation in this election.

BERMAN: So, Marc, even if you don't see this as a flag connected to January 6th, and we should note that Speaker Mike Johnson has flown this flag outside his office periodically over time. Even if you don't see it as a January 6th flag, should a Supreme Court justice be flying a flag that has political implications at all?

MARC LOTTER, FORMER TRUMP 2020 DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: Well, I mean, I think that's up to each of those justices to decide that. But I mean I remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg basically coming out and trashing Donald Trump. She didn't recuse herself on any of the cases that came before her that involved the former president. So, look, I mean, our justices all have their own personal, political beliefs. They are able to do that. That is their right. The question is, how did they rule on the law? And I think, obviously, Justice Alito is probably one of the most respected constitutional scholars there is. And regardless of his personal political leanings or that of his family, as long as it doesn't interfere with his interpretation of the Constitution, then I think it's just Americans being Americans.

BERMAN: Look, I - Justice Ginsburg actually ultimately sort of apologized for that, for coming out and the statement she made about Donald Trump. Do you feel - are you comfortable with a justice advertising their political beliefs, Marc? LOTTER: I'm more concerned about how they rule on the law. We often have people who have personal political beliefs, but they have to set those aside when it comes to administering the law or executing justice, or the laws of America. So, as long as he's, you know, able to do that, then he has my full confidence. All Americans have their personal beliefs. Sometimes we have to set them aside to do our work.

BERMAN: Look, yes, but Supreme Court justices aren't all Americans. They're a pretty select group of nine people held to a different standard by some, although no specific legal standard, it does turn out.

I want to play some sound from Steve Bannon's podcast over the last 24 hours where he was reacting to a discussion apparently about Donald Trump's statement that he wanted to be a dictator only on day one. But listen to what Steve Bannon said, Simon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BANNON: We mock your fear. We want you to fear. It's going to be accountability. Accountability, responsibility. And that will come with authority. The authority of Donald John Trump as the 47th president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Basically, Simon, saying, you will be held to account. We want your fear.

What do you think the message is that that sends?

ROSENBERG: You know, listen, I think we have to - every day that we engage in these conversations, we have to remember, in 2021 Donald Trump tried to overturn a legitimate American election and install himself as a dictator in the United States. And he did it through an armed attack on the Capitol. Once you've done something like that, I don't know that you need any more information about the intention of where he's going or where he'll go in a second term. I mean we have a guy who has tried to end American democracy for all time once. He decided that he needed to run again so he could finish the job in January 2025. And I think that this is a central area of engagement in this election. The Democratic Party must preserve and strengthen American democracy. The Republicans want to end that. Let's have that debate in this election.

BERMAN: Marc, you seem like a positive guy. I mean what do you think of a campaign that's run on welcoming the fear of political opponents?

LOTTER: Well, I think what he's saying is basically that the America first movement, the MAGA movement, is tired of platitudes. They want action. They expect, whether it's the president, whether it's a member of Congress, that when we elect you and you say and campaign on doing something, we expect you to get it done. I think that's one of the big takeaways back from 2016 and now moving forward that we don't want just our politicians in Washington, D.C., to talk. We want them to actually solve the problems. And so I think what you saw there with Steve Bannon is him saying that

whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, if you're going to be elected, we expect you to do things on behalf of the American people and not just talk about it.

BERMAN: Nikki Haley says she is voting for Donald Trump. Simon, I put this to both of you. Who needs Nikki Haley voters more, President Biden or Donald Trump.

Simon, first to you?

ROSENBERG: Yes, I think this is going to be an area of engagement by both parties. I mean we know from pulling that a large number of Nikki Haley voters are very open to voting for Joe Biden.

[09:10:06]

And now the two campaigns are going to have to go compete to go win those voters. But I think it's important to recognize that the Republican Party has splintered. I mean the opposition to Trump inside the Republican Party, two former vice presidents, former party nominee, former vice presidential nominee, former speaker of the house, many dozens and dozens of elected officials - I mean officials who have served under Trump in the administration are openly campaigning against Donald Trump. We've never seen this kind of opposition inside a party by party leaders against their nominee.

And so I think the danger for Trump is that, look, he lost the last election. He needs more voters. These voters are much more important to him than to us. And he's got to - you know, and I've been a little surprised how the campaign has been handling this to date.

BERMAN: Marc, it's got to be quick, how bad does Donald Trump need Nikki Haley voters?

LOTTER: I think both sides do. But the benefit is that we have the policy and the results on our side. People do not like Joe Biden's inflation, immigration. And if you want to see an end of it, you can't vote for Joe Biden. Personality differences, those will get put aside. People are going to want to see a change in direction for America.

BERMAN: Got it, signs - and inflation is coming down, but I take your point.

Marc Lotter, Simon Rosenberg, thanks to both of you.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, there is new video in of what the Ukrainian president describes as an extremely brutal Russian attack. And Zelenskyy is now sounding new alarm after civilians were targeted in multiple strikes on Ukraine's second largest city.

Plus, a deadly collapse. The terrifying moment a wind gust causes a stage to fall at a campaign rally in Mexico, crushing people underneath. And, if you are planning to fly this weekend, prepare. The FAA says this will be the busiest weekend of travel in 14 years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:16:27]

BOLDUAN: The number of injured in that terrifying stage collapse in Mexico has now risen to 70 people. It all happened at a presidential candidates rally.

(VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: You can see that structure and that large screen fold right on to the audience. They're blaming a strong wind gust that came through. Nine people, including a minor, are now dead.

CNN's Stefano Pozzebon is with us now once more.

Stefano, what more are you learning?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN JOURNALIST: Well, Kate, we're learning that at least 70 people are being treated for injuries in relation to that tragedy. Thankfully no more deaths on update. Nine people have been killed. One of them, just like you said, is a minor.

But in the early hours of this Thursday, Kate, we're learning from CNN weather team in Atlanta what could possibly have happened for this stage to collapse. They sent us, in the last hour, a fresh, new report about the conditions in Monterey, saying that the stage was impacted by a gust front. They said which is when gusty winds push out in all direction from thunderstorm that this can cause winds to suddenly pick up.

And if you see those terrifying images that we're receiving from social media across Mexico, you can see that the wind is very sudden, that the candidates were on the stage singing and chanting campaign slogans when all of a sudden the winds suddenly pick up and cause the sage to collapse.

Now, the main question hanging over Mexico this morning, Katie, is, how could these events take place? Because we know that the Mexican meteorological service had issued a stark warning about these possibility with winds forecast to up to 40 miles per hour. And late last night the Mexican presidential candidate, Jorge Alvarez Maynez, who was on that stage, said that such a tragedy was very hard to forecast.

Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORGE ALVAREZ, MEXICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What happened was a strong wind that must have lasted five minutes maximum. It took down trees, tents. There's a lot of news coverage about it. The disaster that caused this accident was not a common weather event. It wasn't an ongoing storm. It wasn't a predictable weather events, as it has been speculated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POZZEBON: Now, Kate, this tragedy has cast a somber shadow on the entire Mexican campaign. The Mexicans will hold to the poll on June the 2nd to elect a new candidates, a new president after Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Stefano, thank you very much for the reporting.

Amara.

WALKER: New overnight, seven people are dead, 23 have been injured in the north eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv after what Ukrainian President Zelenskyy called an extremely brutal Russian attack.

The images coming out of the area are extremely disturbing. Official say all ten strikes hit civilian infrastructure.

Our Nick Paton Walsh is in eastern Ukraine right now.

Nick, can you tell us more about where things stand with Russia's offensive and Ukraine's largest - second largest city, and will Ukraine, most importantly, be able to hold on?

[09:20:06]

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, this horrifying attack in Kharkiv this morning at about 10:00, it shook us, frankly, in the supermarket that we were standing in, even though it was kilometers away. Appear to be two locations hit. We know about one of them, are printing press where it appears seven individuals died. We drove past that area near (INAUDIBLE) we think and saw firefighters crouching for cover because one common tactic seen now is one missile hits the target and a second one lands moments later to try and get the rescue as the first responders who rush to help. Absolutely brutal.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine referring to this as an example, frankly, of the world failing Ukraine to give them the air defenses they need to hold these missiles back.

But, Amara, we've been seeing over the past days Russia pushing forward through Kharkiv region from its border, down towards Ukraine's second city. And we were in one of the key towns or villages that Ukraine simply cannot lose. Moscow wants to get its artillery within range of that million strong city so it can inflict regular damage like that we've just been talking about.

Here's what we saw in a key town, Lyptsi, that Putin so desperately needs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WALSH (voice over): Some towns they can never let Putin take. And this, Lyptsi, is one of them. Destroyed artillery on the streets. Homes aflame from an airstrike. They can only move at night.

WALSH: Lights off.

WALSH (voice over): It's a perilous grip they keep. But lose here and Russian artillery will be in range of Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv.

WALSH: You can still smell the smoke here from an airstrike that landed just in the last hour or so.

WALSH (voice over): This is life under the drone. We're the first reporters into the heart of the town.

Only soldiers left here under ground. The Hartier (ph) 13th National Guard first tackled Russia's new offensive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): You saw how it's all burning. It's like that every night.

WALSH: Do you think there were good enough fortifications here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Nothing was prepared here. Nothing. Just nothing. All the positions are being built by the hands of the infantry. The Russians are trained professional soldiers. We can see it from their equipment, from their tactics.

WALSH (voice over): There were eight airstrikes just in the last hour, so we leave soon.

A buzzing noise near us, very close. And the only way they know whose drone this is, is if it attacks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Is it your drone?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Who knows?

WALSH (voice over): All around Kharkiv they don't have enough guns and the Russians have too many drones. The 92nd Assault Brigade show us something that isn't even theirs.

WALSH: A Russian artillery piece that they captured in the first year of the war in the fighting in Kharkiv region. And now they use strangely French mortar rounds to fire from here. It's just a sign of how little appropriate ammunition they have available to them.

This wire is a protection from FPV (ph) drones.

WALSH (voice over): Above he sees a drone with two battery packs. A long-range scout.

WALSH: Run. Basement.

WALSH (voice over): It is not friendly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here. Here.

WALSH (voice over): If you can tell, it's an attack drone. Hide. This seems to be a scout. So, running is better before it calls in shelling.

Another artillery unit wants to show us something not even Russian, but Soviet. Made in the 1940s, it can still fine newer Polish shells. In the autumn, it was 100 a day. Now it is ten.

WALSH: Extraordinary to see something here that's three times the age of either of these two guys, holding back a new Russian offensive in 2024.

I say the metal's so old that it limits the number of times -

WALSH (voice over): That sound warms another drone is incoming. And back in the bunker, they show us the online board $30 gadget that is their best warning mechanism. The team here embody Ukraine's exhaustion and resilience. Older guys, wounded infantry men. Atour (ph) has drone shrapnel in his arm still.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Moving towards Lozova?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Yes. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Orlan. Don't go out at all for now.

WALSH: He just saw an orlan, Russian drone, passing overhead. So he's saying, better stay inside.

WALSH (voice over): On the way back into the city, we see what fuels this defense. This was a lakeside resort, football, cocktails, a beach.

WALSH: Extraordinary devastation. And they're here to collect the bodies.

WALSH (voice over): A seven-month pregnant women was among the seven dead here.

[09:25:03]

Another body found later, just fragments in the mulch.

Russia's advance looms over whatever life persists here, belching out over homes. The dark is little salvation. This may be a drone being hit, but they killed two when they crash in failure. Flares breach the enforced blackout. Moscow is getting nearer again. And they're always too many blasts before dawn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALSH: And I think it's important just to understand here the relentless and the patience of Russia's military here. They may not have massive headlines sweeps through to a city like that, but to its north, Lyptsi continually under pressure day after day. And eventually it does pay off. They're pushing at multiple prongs along that border frontline and also too in the east, taking advantage of Ukraine's desperate need to rush reinforcements to defend Kharkiv, leaving gaps in their defenses.

Make no mistake, we're likely to see Russian advances in significant fashion in the weeks ahead because they're just stretching Ukraine so thin right now.

Amara.

WALKER: And it's just so striking, Nick, to see the second hand - third hand, fourth hand weapons, old weapons as you pointed out, that they are using there on the front lines in Ukraine.

Nick Paton Walsh, always good to have you. Thanks so much.

John.

BERMAN: Some more than 53,000 flights will take to this skies today in a very busy kickoff to the Memorial Day weekend. When to head out for your holiday if you want to beat the rush. Now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]