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VP Harris Blasts GOP VP Contender For Comments About Black Families; Trump To have Virtual Pre-Sentencing Interview With Probation Office; Intense Heat In The West; Caitlin Clark Will Not Be On Team USA At Paris Olympics. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired June 10, 2024 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:34:22]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Vice President Kamala Harris is weighing in on the contenders who could be her direct competition in 2024, the potential candidates for Donald Trump's vice president.

And while she has tried mostly to stay above the fray, she did blast one person in particular.

CNN's senior White House correspondent, M. J. Lee, joins us now live.

M. J., why is she going after Byron Donalds?

M. J. LEE, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, obviously, there are many Democrats that are watching the V.P. stakes on the Republican side really closely. And it's clear that Vice President Harris is no exception.

According to "Politico," the vice president called up a reporter over the weekend to discuss the shortlist of potential running mates for former President Donald Trump.

[13:35:05]

And "Politico" said that while she didn't really discuss any specific individuals, the one exception was Congressman Byron Donalds, a Republican from -- from Florida.

Let's play a comment that he made last week that here to draw the ire of the vice president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): You see, during Jim Crow -

(CROSSTALK)

DONALDS: -- during Jim Crow, go back, family was together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. DONALDS: During Jim Crow, more black people were not just conservative -- the majority were not always conservatives, mind you -- but black people voted conservatively.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: Vice President Harris telling "Politico" that those comments are, quote, "Sadly, yet another example of somebody out of Florida trying to erase or rewrite our true history."

Appearing to be a reference to the fact that Governor DeSantis in Florida has tried to rewrite how black history is taught at schools in the state of Florida.

More broadly, this article was just interesting because it gave you a sense of how Democrats plan on making sure that they describe everyone on the V.P. shortlist for Donald Trump as being simply a clone of the former president -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: M. J. Lee, live from the White House, thanks so much.

Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Former President Trump has a big meeting today with a New York probation official. He is scheduled to do a pre- sentencing interview ahead of next month's sentencing in his criminal hush money case.

Trump will do the meeting virtually. He'll be there at Mar-a-Lago with his attorney, Todd Blanche, by his side.

And during the routine interview, a defendant typically answers questions about their conviction and other basic background information. It forms part of a report that the probation department then sends to the judge ahead of the sentencing.

Let's talk more about this with former U.S. attorney, Michael Moore.

Because, Michael, this could impact a lot. What happens with Trump? How much does the judge usually take into account this report?

And in particular, the fact that the probation officer is going to ask Trump about his convictions and Trump it's really not shown much remorse with them. How is that going to play out?

MICHAEL MOORE, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. Well, I'm glad to be with you.

This is an important report. And I think that's why you see the president agree -- the former president agree to participate in it with his lawyer, even though they're doing it remotely.

And that's expected, frankly, because it's just a logistical nightmare to move him around and get him to New York to meet face-to-face with a probation officer.

So this information will be relied upon by the judge. The judge takes a great emphasis or places great emphasis on what the probation department will tell him about Trump, about things that were said.

It's a chance for Trump to help himself or hurt himself. He can help himself if he says, look, I maintain that I did not do anything wrong. I'm going to appeal. That's this is a normal process. He won't be punished for that.

He would be punished for things if he continues to be defiant about the judicial process, about how there was nothing that went right, about maybe specific witness comments, or certainly if he made any threats toward people. Those kinds of things the judge, I think, would frown upon.

But I do think it's a chance for him to say some things that would help him. A lot of this is history gathering. And the probation department doesn't know -- if you think about just a normal criminal defendant, they don't know as much about that person as they know about the former president.

We know pretty much everything about him. Some stuff we -- he may say we believe some stuff we don't.

So it's not going to be -- this is not as important about digging into his background as it is going to be sort of painting an image of the person who is going to be coming before the court, ultimately, be sentenced soon on these felony charges.

KEILAR: The D.A. will also submit a sentencing memo to the judge. What are you expecting the D.A.'s going to recommend, Alvin Bragg here.

MOORE: Yes. I think they'll recommend some type of jail time. I think they have to, to sort of justify the position they took in bringing the case at all.

And remember, this is a very novel case. It's the first time we've seen something like this where they've sort of co-mingle the federal and state statutes, so in order to ramp it up to a felony.

So to sort of justify that tactical decision that they made, they're going to have to, I think, suggest some type of more significant punishment than just probation. Whether or not the judge does that, we don't know yet. But that -- but I think you'll see that.

And I think you'll see them make repeated references to the violations of the gag order. I think it's likely that you'll see them make references to comments that he has made, either in the -- on social media or some of his rants he went on after court.

I'm sure they had those transcribed where he's attacked the court process and the judge. And they are going to say, this is somebody who has shown no remorse, no acceptance of responsibility, nothing to indicate that a more lenient sentence would be appropriate here.

And part of sentencing is to sort of get somebody's attention. So this is the only way to do it.

So it'll be -- it's a little bit like buying a car. Somebody goes in with a low ball, somebody goes in with a high ball and they're both hoping the judge will get somewhere, you know, in the middle ground.

[13:40:06]

The question will be, does that middle ground meet some type of supervised sentence? Again, I don't think it's going to be jail. I think it could be place him under house arrest for a weekend or two, perhaps.

But that's, that's going to be the -- ultimately, the judge's decision and completely in his discretion.

KEILAR: Yes, it'll be very interesting to see where the judge lands on this.

Michael Moore, great to have you. Thank you.

MOORE: Glad to be with you. Thank you.

KEILAR: And still ahead, it's not even technically summer yet, and yet parts of the U.S. are seeing triple-digit temperatures. We'll have the latest on when we could see relief, next.

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[13:45:09]

SANCHEZ: Some 20 million people are under heat alerts in the western part of the country right now. A new heat wave sending temperatures into the triple digits over several days again this week.

CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is live for us in the CNN Weather Center.

So, Allison, who is bearing the brunt of this heat wave right?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's a pretty widespread area when you look at it. You've got some of these that stretch from New Mexico all the way back into northern California.

You've got heat advisories, excessive heat watches and warnings for several of these areas, and that does include the city of Phoenix.

Now, what's interesting about Phoenix is it's not just one or two days. They've had 14 consecutive days of those temperatures being in the triple digits. And it's not going to end any time soon.

They're also not alone. When you look at Las Vegas, they've had 11 consecutive June days of those temperatures above triple-digits.

But when you look at the forecast, there is a 70 percent chance of them maintaining those triple-digit temperatures for at least the next several days, maybe even a few weeks. The record for them is 25. They may very well get to that record.

The more interesting thing, too, about Las Vegas is normally this time of year, their average is 98. They shouldn't even have one day of triple-digit temperatures. But when you look at the forecast, every single one of the next seven days, those highs are expected to be in the triple digits.

Now, a lot of that is this heat dome right here. You can see all of these areas under it. That's where the focus is really going to be for those temperatures that are not just above average by a few degrees but, in some cases, record-breaking temperatures.

Now for some areas, it's going to be an up and down. Take Sacramento, for example, still above today, really above Tuesday, and then we start to see that coming back down on Wednesday.

But Phoenix, Vegas and Palm Springs all looking at those temperatures that continue -- continue to go up over the next couple of days.

SANCHEZ: Allison Chinchar, thank you so much for the update. Probably a good idea to grab a cold drink while you're out there.

Brianna?

KEILAR: Yes, definitely.

Now to some of the other headlines that were watching this hour.

The U.S. is not the only country dealing with serious heat. Thousands of dead fish have blanketed the surface of a drought-stricken lagoon in Mexico. Check that out.

Local officials blaming the deaths on dropping water levels, long dry spells, and temperatures climbing to 104 degrees.

And Microsoft and Google will offer free or discounted cybersecurity services to rural hospitals across the U.S.

This is a move that is an effort to make the hospitals, which often lack IT. security resources, less vulnerable to the cyberattacks that have disrupted patient care. We'll have more on this in our next hour.

And for the second year, the White House will host a concert marking Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

President Biden signed legislation in 2021 establishing Juneteenth as the nation's 11th federal holiday. Tonight's concert at the White House is being held ahead of the actual holiday, which, of course, is June 19th.

And next, she's become the biggest star of women's basketball, but she won't to be at the world's biggest competition next month.

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[13:52:55]

SANCHEZ: The U.S. women's basketball roster for the 2024 Olympics has leaked and one name is notably not on it. Caitlin Clark, the WNBA rookie, has been a supernova of media interest

since she's turned pro.

KEILAR: But that wasn't enough for Clark to make the team that will be going for gold next month in Paris.

CNN's Don Riddell is with us now.

All right, Don, what are a lot of people wondering -- what a lot of people are wondering, I should say is, is this a snub or is this not a snub?

DON RIDDELL, CNN HOST, WORLD SPORT: Well, guys, it depends on who you ask and maybe it depends on whether or not you believe in conspiracy theories.

But certainly there are a lot of people who are arguing that it is a snub. For example, she has just had a record-breaking college career. She's made an incredible start in the league as a rookie.

Her stats for a rookie are off the charts. And of course, we all know that she has single-handedly transformed the interest in the WNBA in just a matter of weeks.

She is, no doubt about it, the most famous and, arguably, one of the most talented female basketball players in the world right now. And arguably, she is one of the most famous female athletes in the world right now.

Then there is the other camp, which says, look, this is a team game. You can't make it all about just one player. Remember she has just had an insane college season, no break leading into the WNBA.

Now, she's on a grind of a schedule and maybe a few weeks will do her some good. So maybe this is actually for the benefit of Caitlin Clark and she will be in it one day. And of course, the next games are in L.A. in 2028.

Those who say it's a snub would say that's her choice to make. If she doesn't want to go to the Olympics because she needs a break, let her make that decision. But perhaps that decision has been made for her.

Caitlin Clark has spoken about it. This is her perspective.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAITLIN CLARK, PRO BASKETBALL PLAYER: Honestly, I'm not disappointed. I think it just gives you something -- something to work for. You know, that's a dream. You know, hopefully, one day, I can be there.

And I think it's just a little more motivation. You remember that. And you know, hopefully, in four years, when four years comes back around, I can be there.

[13:54:59] CHRISTIE SIDES, INDIANA FEVER HEAD COACH: I called on the bus and she texted me to let me know. And I just tried to keep her spirits. I mean, the thing she said was, Coach, they woke a monster, which I thought was awesome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: Yes. Clark has also said, guys, that she'll be spending the time, if she doesn't go to the Olympics, in the gym, getting herself bigger and stronger and tougher, and presumably even more awesome as a player.

SANCHEZ: They have woken a monster --

KEILAR: Wow.

SANCHEZ: -- according to her coach.

Don Riddell, thanks so much for the update.

RIDDELL: All right.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate it.

Still to come, Hunter Biden's defense team now making its final case to the jury before they begin deliberations. We're live from the courthouse right after this.

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