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One Week Until First Presidential Debate on CNN; Millions Under Flood Threat from Tropical Storm Alberto; Louisiana Schools Required to Display Ten Commandments in Class. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 20, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

LANCE TROVER, FORMER SPOKEPERSON, BURGUM PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: That's the one thing of why advertisers might still go back.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF ANCHOR: Yes. And with the revenue generation, if you look at that now versus then 2022, $1.4 billion in the first six months of 2023 under Musk, down 40 percent from the same period in 2022 before Musk. So, clearly, there are some issues here.

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I mean, he has broken what was once a successful and prominent business essentially, I'm not sure, and done it in service of advancing some of these really hateful, really disgusting, really awful accounts.

RAJU: And he spent a lot of money to buy it. All right, thank you, panel, for joining me this morning and thank you for joining us. I'm Manu Raju.

CNN News Central starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The final countdown. Exactly one week to a presidential debate like no other right here on CNN. And we have our first glimpse of how the candidates are preparing.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Fires and now floods. Millions are now under flood threats as the first tropical storm of the year makes landfall and batters Southern Texas.

Also a historic decision, Louisiana now requiring all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments. Opponents vow to challenge this new law. We'll have all those stories and more.

Kate Bolduan out today. I'm Sarah Sidener with John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: This morning, game on, but, of course, it is no game. It is the earliest general election debate in presidential campaign history and maybe the most decisive right here on CNN and now just one week away. And for the first time, we're getting some of the nitty-gritty details on how the candidates are preparing.

President Biden will travel to Camp David tonight where we are told he and his team are going to pore over briefing binders. Trump insiders say he has been working with his vice presidential possibilities, testing out responses and messaging on policy. A brand new poll from Fox News shows President Biden with a two point lead. That is well within the margin of error. But this is a shift toward Biden since the last Fox poll in May.

CNN's Arlette Saenz and Steve Conterno are with us now. Arlette, first to you on how the Biden campaign is getting ready for this huge moment.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, President Biden will depart Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, a bit later tonight to head to Camp David, and it is there that he will hunker down with his top aides to really drill in on his debate preparations. One of the key goals for Biden heading into this debate is trying to paint Trump as divisive and chaotic as he prepares for his first in person showdown with his opponent since their two debates in 2020.

Now, it's expected that this these preps in Camp David will really start with some informal discussions, going over some areas that could come up, topics that could come up in the debate, questions that could come up and then transition into more fulsome 90 minutes mock debates. Aides have already started putting together binders with possible topic areas, ways to answer those questions. And Biden, according to sources who've been involved in preparations, is really known to ask a lot of questions, drill in on that and offer feedback. It's expected that he will do the same heading into this debate.

Now, the president will be joined by former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, who is leading these debate preparations. Bruce Reed, the president's deputy chief of staff, who really focuses a lot on policy, has been tasked with going through materials and hours of what Trump has said out on the campaign trail. It's also possible that the president's personal attorney, Bob Bauer, could potentially play Trump in these mock debates, as he did back in 2020.

Now, there already have been some preparation sessions that have gotten underway. And sources say that in those sessions, President Biden has really been focused on trying to find ways to hold Trump accountable on the debate stage. One campaign official said that Biden has been a lot punchier in his attacks against Trump out on the campaign trail, and they anticipate and are hoping that that will also be the case on the debate stage.

But for the Biden campaign, so much of this is really trying to highlight the stakes of this election. For so long, Biden's advisers have said that voters are simply tuned out. So, this could essentially serve as a starting point for them. And they firmly believe that once voters are reminded of what Trump did in office during those four years and the warnings about what could come in another second term, that that will really sink in with a lot of voters.

One thing Biden will really try to focus on is trying to raise some of the things that haven't registered with voters so far that Trump has said.

[07:05:04]

So, all of this will be key focuses for the President Biden as he hunkers down at Camp David preparing for this one-on-one debate just one week from today.

SIDNER: All right. Let's go to Steve Contorno, who has what Trump has been up to as he tries to prepare for the debate. You heard all the things that President Biden is doing. What's up with Donald Trump?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, Sara, Donald Trump has suggested in the past that rallies best prepare him for these debates, and he is holding a rally on Saturday in Philadelphia, one of several visits he has made to that part of the state this year.

In the past, though, he has held mock debate sessions with people like Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie. He's not doing that this time around, as far as we have heard, but he has held somewhat informal policy sessions, bringing in some of his potential V.P. picks, like Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio. Senator Marco Rubio, and meeting with some other advisors as well, like Susie Wiles, his campaign manager, Chris LaCivita, Kellyanne Conway, Stephen Miller, some of these advisers who have been talking the president through some of the policy issues they expect to come up, the economy, border, crime, abortion, as well as these wars in Gaza and Ukraine. And they have been preparing former President Trump for how he might respond to some of these attacks about his now criminal history, and as well as what happened on, on January 6th.

There has also been a fair set amount of expectation setting from Trump and his allies heading into this debate. Listen to what he said on Tuesday in Racine, Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Is anybody going to watch the debate? He's going to be so pumped up, he's going to be pumped up. You know all that stuff that was missing about a month ago from the White House? I'll probably be negotiating with three people, but that's okay, I've done that before. I'll be debating three people instead of one, instead of one half of a person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Trump has spent so much time projecting Biden as older and feeble that now it's interesting to see him and his allies suggest that, you know, they expect President Biden to show up and perform. And interesting that he also thinks it's going to be a disadvantage to him, sort of setting the expectation that it's going to be him against the media and Biden as well, so, clearly, already sort of laying the groundwork for, for some excuses if things do not go well on next Thursday.

SIDNER: Well, it's happening in seven days, so we will see just how it goes for both candidates. Arlette Saenz and Steve Contorno, thank you so much. Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderate the CNN presidential debate next Thursday, live from Atlanta. Starts at 9:00 P.M. Eastern, and it will be streaming on MAX as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's my house right there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the flames. They were just like boiling and the wind started going. So, when I looked at it, everything in me tells me my house is gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Terrible pictures there from New Mexico. First ravaged by wildfires and now there are life threatening mudslides and flooding, homes gone, lives shattered. We will talk to one of the representatives from the area.

And, quote, only pirates do this, a major escalation in the South China Sea. The brutal assault China is being accused of using bladed weapons.

Also an urgent manhunt is on in Arkansas. This man, Stacy Lee Drake, wanted in connection with multiple homicides and carjackings.

We'll be right back.

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[07:10:00]

SIDNER: This morning, parts of Texas flooded as heavy rain and storm surge from the first named tropical storm of the season is battering the coastline. Millions of people are feeling Alberto's impacts right now, 51 Texas counties under a disaster declaration.

Elisa Raffa has the forecast in just a minute for us. But, first, let's go to CNN's Rosa Flores, who is live in Corpus Christi.

Rosa. You were there yesterday. We watched things happen, and now we're seeing way more flooding than we did, as this tropical storm now, the first name to the hurricane season is really battering or close to Mexico, not so much where you are. Describe the conditions, though, that you're seeing.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, the headline for sure is that the water is higher this morning. Take a look behind me. Let me show you around. This is a little neighborhood that's nestled here by the highway. You can see several rows of homes that are underwater. You can see the water line there in the picket line.

But this is practically an island. If you look beyond these homes, you'll see that there's a gas station. That's where all those lights are. That gas station is on higher ground. So, it's an island surrounded by streets that are all completely flooded. And let me show you where this water is coming from, because as you look, as I'm walking, you'll see that all of these streets around me are completely flooded, and where the water is coming from is the ocean. As we were driving here, we could see that, in essence, the ocean took over land, and that's what officials have told us they were expecting. They were expecting one to three feet of storm surge.

But this scene, what you're seeing here is replicated along the Texas Gulf Coast. Take a look at these photos from Surfside Beach.

[07:15:01]

I talked to the assistant director of EMS there, and he tells me that they rescued a woman yesterday that they had about four-foot swells there, and that today they're expecting six-foot swells. So, they're on high alert to make sure that all the residents are okay.

We also have photos from Matagorda. This is between Surfside Beach and Corpus Christi here where I am. And you can see that those homes are on pilings. The water is flowing underneath, and that's why those homes are designed that way because of rising waters. When there's storms, this usually happens.

Now, Sara, as you can see behind me, there's homes here, too, that are underwater. From talking to officials here in Corpus Christi, they tell me that they're counting their blessings, even though you see a lot of water here because there are no deaths, there are no injuries, there is no major damage, they tell me. And so they are hoping that what happens today is that these waters can recede, that they can drain away and that life can come back to normal, and hopefully they say that they will still be no deaths, no injuries, and that their residents are going to be okay. Sara, back to you.

SIDNER: Rosa, all good things, no deaths, no injuries and really not a ton of damage. But we are seeing, of course, that house behind you would probably beg to differ when that comes to their particular property. Thank you so much there in Corpus Christi Texas. I know you'll be watching it all.

Let's bring in Meteorologist Elisa Raffa now who is watching this. What is the big concern and will this get worse?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It will get worse for parts of Mexico. As far as Texas, we could still see some of that storm surge rolling, especially as we hit high tide this morning. Here's a look at Alberto right now, still a tropical storm at 50-mile-per-hour winds. We are very close to landfall this morning. But as you saw Rosa standing in the water, this is the perfect example of impacts far outside of landfall, impacts far outside of the cone.

We still have a tornado watch in effect this morning from Corpus Christi down towards Brownsville, Texas, because some of these bands have a little bit of spin to them. And that's where you can get some brick and weave tornadoes to get on shore as well. Some flood watches continue, although we are expecting about an inch more of rain of parts of Texas. You can see though the coastal warnings continue as we again are still looking at some of the storm surge.

Rainfall totals since yesterday, we're looking at widespread two to four inches in a lot of the yellow, but look at some of the oranges where we're seeing four to six-inch totals. In fact, for Rockport, Texas, we've got more than five inches of rain, which is an entire month's worth and then some of rain.

Here's another image of some of that storm surge, the ocean water that just pushes inland with some of that onshore flow. Some of that could continue today as we still have some of those onshore winds. Two to four feet of the storm surge as possible around Galveston, some one to three feet around Corpus Christi, will continue with some of this heavy rain in parts of Mexico. Some of the showers actually stretch up into New Mexico, where we have those wildfire concerns. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes, flooding and wildfire concerns. We're going to be talking about those in just a bit. Thank you so much, Elisa Raffa there from the Weather Center.

Also, a newly signed law in Louisiana is mandating the Ten Commandments must be posted in every public classroom, kindergarten to college. Civil liberties groups, as you might imagine, are promising a battle in court.

Plus, the trial is underway for a Russian-American ballerina accused of treason in Russia. Details of her case straight ahead.

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[07:20:00]

BERMAN: New this morning, the governor of Louisiana signed a law requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in all public school classrooms, the only state now with such a law. Civil liberties groups are vowing to challenge it, calling it blatantly unconstitutional. Governor Jeff Landry says he can't wait to be sued.

CNN's Isabel Rosales has the latest. What are you hearing, Isabel?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you, John. Supporters of this new Ten Commandments long Louisiana say that it's not just a religious document, but it has historical value and thus it belongs in the classroom. Detractors of it, critics of it say that it's blatantly unconstitutional to display them in schools and, in fact, a violation of the establishment clause of the Constitution. That is a clause that says Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.

Now, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed House Bill 71 into law just yesterday. It mandates poster-size displays of the Ten Commandments in large, easily readable font. This is in all public classrooms. This is from kindergarten up until state funded universities. Landry said that House Bill 71 is one of his favorites with respect to education bills that he has signed so far.

Here's what else he had to say during the bill signing just yesterday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JEFF LANDRY (R-LA): This is one of the bills that got the press over here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is?

LANDRY: I think so. This bill mandates the display of the Ten Commandments in every classroom in public, elementary, secondary, and post-education schools in the state of Louisiana.

Because if you want to respect the rule of law, you got to start from the original lawgiver, which was Moses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And now for civil rights groups, including the ACLU, say that they are suing, saying that students, because they have to go to school, they are essentially captive audiences to school-sponsored religious messages.

[07:25:07]

We have this statement from the executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana, saying the law violates longstanding Supreme Court precedent and the First Amendment. The First Amendment promises that we all get to decide for ourselves what religious beliefs, if any, to hold and practice without pressure from the government. Politicians have no business imposing their preferred religious doctrine on students and families in public schools. And that executive director, John, also saying that the timing of this bill signing on Juneteenth is, quote, deeply concerning.

BERMAN: This is destined, it seems, for the Supreme Court. Isabel Rosales, thanks so much for being with us.

A brand new poll out this morning shows a shift in the presidential race for President Biden. Is this just in time for the CNN debate?

And then a brazen and brutal attack at sea, the type of action normally attributed to pirates, except this was a world superpower.

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