Transcripts For CNNW CNN 20240702

New u. S. Intel jligence and complex tunnel system under gaza. More lost and legal blows to come. Mark meadows has been granted immunity to testify in the federal subversion case. Meadows reported there was no evidence of fraud, telling prosecutors trump was dishonest. And theres more. Trumps former attorney is back on the stand soon. This is for the civil trial against him. Former president expected to be there again. Im kate baldwin with john be berman. This is cnn news central. This morning, is the fifth time a charm . Were seeing if mike johnson from louisiana will end up as speaker of the house in the next few hours. This could unfold before our eyes after a chaotic three weeks that saw Kevin Mccarthy booted from the speakers chair. Steve scalise get the no, maam nalgs and drop out before a full house vote. Jim jordan get the nomination but lose several house votes. Tom emmer, he got the nomination and lasted four hours. Its Mike Johnsons turn. He may be the last man standing. How do things look for him. Overnight, in a ballot today. 22 republicans voted absent. Three voted present. If he loses four of these votes today, that would be enough to sink his efforts to be speaker. Youre getting new reporting on the status of these votes. And well update you on that shortly. And well explain who mike johnson is. In the meantime, in israel, new reporting on the u. S. Intelligence on the hamas tunnels. The vast spider web of tunnels throughout gaza. Analyst jim sciutto is standing by in tel aviv. What have you learned . Reporter there was some question going back to october 7th, how hamas carried out this enormous assault on israel. Highly complicated, without being detected by Israeli Intelligence prior. Israeli intelligence highly capable. Focused on the activities of hamas in gaza. And the new reporting gets to some of that answer, noting that what hamas did was build, not just a network of tunnels under gaza, but hard land lines, phone lines that they use this there to communicate for some two years prior to this assault. Those land lines could not be intercepted by Israeli Intelligence. Its highly capable. And thats one of the ways they managed to keep this quiet and attack with that surprise, that devastating surprise, that we witnessed on october 7th. Its not unlike, john, with alak qaeda. What bin laden was forced to do after 9 11. Focusing on cure curriers, not electronic messages. Thats a discovery. It speaks to hamas preparations for this attack. Israel has had a complicated relationship with the United Nations for decades. Even more tension maybe for the last several hours. Whats going on here . These were the words from the u. N. Secretarygeneral, speaking to antonio gutierrez. Saying, these are his words, that the october 7th assault, did not happen in a vacuum, his words. And then, noting what he called a suffocating occupation of the Palestinian People by israel for a number of years. Have a listen to how he put it before the u. N. Yesterday. It is important to recognize the attacks by hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian People have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. Reporter queen rania speaking how the u. S. And allies responded to israeli casualties how they are not reacting on a similar scale to casualties in gaza. Its important, john, because it affects key relationships out here. Israel says it will block visas for u. N. Officials, including the u. N. Official responsible for humanitarian aid in gaza. Losing some moderates as it contemplates. Not notably, more severe, in recent days with the word theres the u. N. Security council and also from jordan. Lets go to gaza and talk about whats happening there. The United States Relief Agency will have to shut down operations if it does not receive more fuel. That comes after the World Health Organization that six hospitals in gaza, have been forced to shut down because of lack of fuel. Israelis insist, there are thousands of xwol lanes available. If they did go into gaza, it would essentially be stolen by hamas and utilized by hamas. Lets get to the situation there. According to aid agencies, the clock is ticking. They say if they dont get youll, they will have hospitals shutting down. Dialysis patients not getting treatment. Water not being pumped. Theres sanitary issues across the gaza strip. They are pleading for a director from the World Health Organization, saying we are on our knees. We need access and need fult nn fuel now. The Israeli Military says it will not allow fuel into the gaza strip. Its concern is that fuel will be stolen by hamas, the main u. N. Agency on the ground, and the one thatppealing for fuel right now. If they dont get fuel by the end of the day, they will be forced to shut down operations. They denied accusations of looting in the past several days. None of this bodes well for the more than 2 million petrapped i that enclave with no way out. This as israel intensifies strikes on the gaza strip, ahead of the ground incursion. Ation aid agencies are saying, if we dont get this fuel now and this help now, this humanitarian crisis has already been spiraling out of control, could really push gaza into darkness. Thank you very much for the latest on that. Keep us posted when you hear more. Cnn is learning that u. S. Military advisers are urging israel to essentially learn from americas past battles. Advising a measured, strategic approach to the hamas Terror Attack. The aim is helping israel avoid a repeat, essentially, of brutal battles in americas past, like fallujah and iraq, back in 2004. Natasha bertrand is live with more of this. What are you hearing about this strategic advice . Reporter the u. S. Military is advising israelis to conduct its operation in gaza with a strategy in mind. And specifically, using Precision Air strikes and targeted raids to go after the senior hamas leaders they want to eliminate. This is in contrast to what the u. S. Sees as a potentially disastrous strategy by the israelis. That would be to launch a fullscale Ground Invasion into gaza, that would involve Israeli Forces going doortodoor, streettostreet, engaging in brutal urban combat, the way the u. S. Did against insurgents in iraq in fallujah in 2004. Thats something that the u. S. Is really advising them against. They say thats not a good strategy, especially when it comes to trying to protect civilians. That puts civilians in danger. Puts the hostages in danger. Theyre trying to steer away from that and more towards the model that the u. S. Employed in mosul, in 2016, when they were trying to drive isis out of that city. That was led by Special Operations forces, drones, air strikes. A much more deliberate operation. The u. S. Trying to encourage the israelis to move forward with as clear objective, clear strategy. Thats why one of the key u. S. Military advisers in israel right now is this marine corps threestar general, general glenn, who has a lot of experience in urban warfare and combat. Hes been among the leading advisers to the idf, as they prepare this operation in gaza. It remains unclear at this point, whether israel is heeding this advice. The sentiment across the Biden Administration is that theyre going to likely launch some kind of fullthroated Military Operation In Gaza because that is what israeli public seems to want. Theyre doing everything they can to make sure not only that they do this deliberately and with a clear strategy. Also, they have an exit plan. The u. S. Does not want to see them undergo a prolonged occupation of the gaza strip. Yeah. The day after. And the day after that. Exactly. Good to see, natasha, thank you so much. As western allies are urging israel to hold off, if you will, on a Ground Invasion, israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu told soldiers that a Ground Offensive was on track. And the next stage is coming. They would strike, quote, the enemy would break force. Joining us right now, cnn military analyst, general mark h herling. One way that Hamas Skirted Detection in planning the Terror Attack is by using a network of hardwired phones built into the Tunnel Network over two years. How big of a miss is this . And what does israel need to do to make sure they have better intel as they go after hamas Command Structure . Truthfully, that report was not a surprise to me, kate. Thats what Terrorist Organizations do. They adapt. They dont use cell phones. Just like were learning lessons, Terrorist Groups learn lessons, too. They can be struck if they use cell phones. They know that cell phones can be picked up and intelligence gathered if a Terrorist Fighter is caught. It doesnt surprise me the use of land line communication, curriers. This has been in operation, since john said a minute ago, since bin laden realized that was the way intelligence was collected on his organization. Good point. I asked general david pa ttreas. I want to play for you what he said about those comparisons. This is vastly more challenging. They will face snipers, suicide bombers. 300 miles of tunnels. They will use the hostages as human shields. Use civilians as human shields, as well. They dont wear uniforms. Now, we know cnn is reporting that u. S. Military officials are advising israel to learn the lessons from these past u. S. Urban combat operations. What do you think of that . First of all, it makes me smile. General patreaus fought in 2008. And i fought in the conflict. And each one of those against insurgents and al qaeda and isis, the conditions of the battle field change. General petraeus, is right, the comparisons are inadequate. Theres lessons to be learned. The use of Special Operations and targeted strikes. The biggest lesson is understanding the role of civilians on the battlefield, if you will. And certain problems youre going to have in gaza, which are very different from mosul. You have a flow of the population inside and out. In 2008, we built a berm around the city, which was incredibly difficult to do. But it kept the insurgents, al qaeda in this case, inside of the city. They were not as strong of a Terrorist Group as hamas is. Hamas is prepared for several years for this assault. They want to draw israel into this fight. It will be a tactical battle. But you said what happens after the fight . You have to think about how the population is cared for, both during the fight and after the fight. If the government is not there, the whole operation is going to fail. And youre going to level a piece of ground. Great to see you, general. Thank you. Thanks. We are standing by for what could finally be the decisive vote for house speaker. Really. Or not, i guess. Were getting the latest just in. A new report, mark meadows, Donald Trumps former Chief Of Staff, granted immunity in the federal election probe. And destruction on the ground of gaza, through the ice of a 13yearold girl. Very soon, the House Of Representatives will be back at it. So we say right now at 9 19. Theyre going to try to elect a speaker once again. Late last night, House Republicans picked mike johnson as the latest nominee. If you blinked or fell asleep, you are right to be confused. Tom emmer was selected earlier yesterday. He dropped out after it was clear he didnt have the necessary support to win the 217 votes needed to actually win the gavel in the full house floor. This is now the fourth speaker nominee since mccarthy was ousted 22 days ago. Heres what mike johnson said about all of the chaos thats ensued since. Democracy is messy sometimes. But it is our system. This conference, that you see, the Republican House majority is united. Is united. Definition of united, suspect these days. Lauren fox on capitol hill for us again. Will johnson be able to pull it off . Reporter well, thats a major question, right . After so many candidates have gotten the nomination Behind Closed Doors and failed to get the victory on the house floor. Were going to be watching today at noon. Thats when mike johnson is going to take this flight to the floor. There were three republicans that voted present Behind Closed Doors. They were not supporting johnson. I talked to one of them. He had about a halfhour long conversation with johnson last night after he voted present. And he did make a commitment to back johnson on the floor today. He argued that he wanted to make sure, because he does not run in the same circles with representative johnson in the past, he was going to be supportive of some land issues in nevada thats important to him. Remember, all politics is local. A lot of guys want to know that the speaker is going to have open communication on issues that are important to them. He said while there was no commitment made from johnson, he is going to be backing him. There were absences. Were going to be watching closely for him on the floor. Republicans are tired. They are exhausted. And we know theres governing that has to happen. The spending deadline is coming up on november 17th, kate. I think theres momentum behind johnson. A lot can change in a couple of hours. Thats what we saw yesterday with tom emmer. We never want to say this is a done deal until it is. But obviously, headed to the floor, mike johnson has broad support from different factions of the republican conference, something that nominees before him have been unable to do. Kate . Thats exactly right. Great to see you, lauren. Lets see what happens. Exhaustion may be winning the day. With us now is republican congressman from ohio, Warren Davidson. Thank you for being with us. How does it feel . Why might this speaker be different than the last weeks of Speaker Votes . People saw whats going on. Republicans keep shanking one another. Theres a little infighting. The reality is, both Political Parties is a coalition. They have factions that make up the diverse political views of the country. Republicans had a lot of time to work through those. And its not just about a person. It is about a plan. Part of the reason that, you know, a handful of people, unfortunately, vacated the chair and led to this temporary chaos. Its because people lost confidence there was a commitment to the appropriations process. Mike johnson laid out his plans to get the Appropriations Bills done, not just an omni bus. I think he was able to build a convincing message for the plan. And a person, if everyone, if they dont completely trust him yet, doesnt have a strong opposition in any one faction. I might take issue with your description of it as a little infighting. I think this qualifies as a lot at this point. Three weeks in, without a house speaker. And for you personally, mike johnson would be what . You are a mccarthy guy. You didnt vote to oust mccarthy. Johnson is, at best, your third choice, to be house speaker. How does that feel . I think well get back to what we need to do. None of us campaigned on keeping the status quo. This is status quo funding. All of the pelosi Biden Policies that passed last year. If republicans want to change, we have to get together on offense. What do you think the large Takeaway Lesson will be . When people look back at this five, ten years from now, that a small number of people can blow stuff up . When you have a narrow majority, fourseat majority, any five people can stop ever measure. A lot of attention is given to the motion to vacate, with no confidence on the speaker. You should tread carefully on that. And theres a lot of wires. Dont cut the wrong wire. This could blow up. Kevin mccarthy put years together. The fact that we can do it in an afternoon. Does it feel like this was worth it . Or is this just resignation . I dont think it is, resig resignation. There was a plan. I think some members were widely liked. But what is the plan to get this done . And the dialogue on that wasnt bringing everybody together. So, that kind of quickly fell apart. I feel excited that we not only have a broader consensus in the party on whats possible, but a commitment to Work Together to get it done. He described mike johnson as, quote, kind of a goober, but i like that. How would you describe mike johnson . Well, mike is a brilliant guy. Hes a wonky guy. I can relate to that. Hes a very committed christian guy. Put in a kind way. He doesnt have a block of strong opposition. My democratic colleagues said, i disagree with him but hes a nice person. And i think, maybe something that we need in our politics, a little more kindness. The American People largely have been starved for bipartisanship and people working together. Where do you think mike johnson will be working with the white house and maybe democrats in the senate to get stuff done . Well, not all the ways they want. Im not sure well pick up the Biden Supplemental in whole or intact. That wouldnt go over well. We have proven that. Im going with Coalition Progressives on fisa. As we go into the end of the year, the patriot acts spying on Americans Program has not been well received. We had a big win on the Fourth Amendment not for sale act trying to protect privacy i. Thats something thats bipartisan. I have to let you go. If we end up with a speaker today, are we weeks away from a Government Shutdown . No. I think well find a way to move something. What both parties agreed to in the debt limit deal, the fiscal s responsibility act in may, it has a 1 cut. We havent fully funded the government. Everyone wants to avoid those cuts. And Everyone Wants to avoid the shutdown. Were going to implement that plan to have a 1 cut in the first of the year because it will apply pressure to get the individual Funding Measures across the finish line. Congress Warren Davidson from ohio. Maybe this is it or maybe we will be talking tomorrow. We can go back to the drawing bard board again. Coming up for us, what trumps former Chief Of Staff told a special council about donald trump in exchange for immunity in the federal election subversion case. More on that. And forecasters are calling it a quote unquote Nightmare Scenario. A powerful hurricane battering western mexico. Where it could be headed next. Nice footwork. Man, youre lucky, watching live sports never used to be this easy. Now you can stream all your games like its nothing. Yes [ cheers ] yeah woho running up and down that field looks tough. Its a pitch. Get way more into what youre into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. A new report on the legal twist of the federal investigation into donald trump. Mark meadows was granted im immunity to testify in the special Council Probe in the efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Meadows has met with them three times this year. Abc news is reporting that meadows told investigators he did not believe the election was stolen and trump was being dishonest, in claiming victory. Joining us now for perspective on this, is jeremy salan. On the most basic level, what is being offered and granted immunity to testify under oath mean . To a certain extent, we dont know what happened. And hes having an opportunity to say these things. Without coming back to haunt him and hurt him and be prosecutored for says what he did or donald trump did, if what they did together was true. In testimony, meadows said he never believed that trump won and told trump so. Why is that important . Theres two pieces of every crime. That mental state that is required and the physical act thats required. You cant just do something physically wrong and are guilty of it. What was Donald Trumps intent and knowledge. Who better than the guy with him and advising him . And thats meadows. Theres contradictions here between what he is allegedly telling investigators and what he put out in his book. And in his book, he said the election was stolen and rigged and with help from allies in the liberal media who ignored evidence of fraud. And he goes on an d on. Is that a problem. He could be the guy that trump could go to. And when the time calls for it, they change their tune and Say Something different. Its something they will be crossing will be impeached or challenged on. You said this before. Now, youre saying this. In complete contradiction. Its not gray. Youre saying something opposite. Its going to be problematic. One is saying something in a book and another is saying something under oath. And the two are very different. I understand that certain things are impeachable. I do very quickly, just one last question on meadows, abc news is reporting that medadows said tht he never heard trump say meadows never heard trump acknowledge that he lost the election. I think that works favorable for trump. You have somebody who is going to say well call it bad things about what trump knew or didnt know and what he did or didnt do. Donald trump never said to me, i think i lost. If you run around saying i lost youre beating me to the punch a little bit. Its okay. We can switch seats. Who is the guest here . The reality is, you are correct. You can only say, i didnt know. When the cookies are missing from the cookie jar and theres crumbs on your chin, you know its you. We got video of Michael Cohen arriving in the manhattan civil court. This is a Civil Fraud Trial Where Trump is found libel for fraud. For the first time in five years, Michael Cohen in the same room with donald trump. A lot of drama in terms of them facing off. What is the actual impact of his testimony . He testified yesterday. We understand that he basically said that he was told by trump to fudge the numbers. This Reverse Engineering is a term he used. He goes through about how he did it and what he did. Donald trump said, i want to be worth 6 billion, not million, but billion. Donald trump is worth 6 billion. This is how i want to get there, he, Michael Cohen, would turn an and look at xcomparables to inflate prices and get lower rates. We have weissenberg, involved. Hes contradicting what Michael Cohen says. All this is going to the heart of the case, of what donald trump did and what he did and didnt do and the value of what he inflated. What has also been raised is the credibility issue. It seems like thats likely to be raised by trumps legal team in this. After i hear that, yes, he went to prison, regarding his role in the hush money payments, regarding stormy daniels. This is not a jury trial, though. This is a bench traial with the judge. Does it play differently, the creditability of the witnesses hit differently. The entire career, the judge, hes seen this. Hes not as moved by some of the things of the plaintiffs attorney or the Attorney Generals Office will say. Hopefully they will be able to see through this. And the judge understands that someone who is going to cooperate, doesnt have clean hands. Someone immersed in the swamp of dirtiness and corruption, is someone going to be potentially responsible and have baggage. Its valuable to crossexamine and you should crossexamine cohen on his history that he lied and perpetrated other crimes. What do you expect . Someone has a crime, theyre going to have potential history. It doesnt go that far as it would with a jury. Thanks, jeremy. Thank you. The destruction in gaza, through the ice of a palestinian tee teenager. And what was a category 5 hurricane makes landfall just by a popular tourist destination. Well track the storm, live. Right now, hospitals are starting to shut down in gaza, with fuel in short supply. Thats according to the World Health Organization, saying six hospitals were forced to close because of shortages. One doctor in gaza has told cnn that his hospital is in risk of becoming a, quote, mass grave, if it doesnt get fuel soon. The Fuel Shortage is also complicating other relief operations. The Relief Agency says it could shut down by the end of today if no fuel is delivered. Israeli Officials Say there is fuel in gaza. This has become a real flash point right now. They believe israeli officials believe it is in the hands o hamas, this additional fuel. And they say they wont allow more to flow in until they get guarantees that the fuel is used for civilians, not taken by hamas, to make rockets. The Israeli Military also posted an aerial photo on social media, that shows 12 oil tanks in gaza. They contain thousands of gallons in fuel. They want guarantees before they allow it to get in. We are also getting a perspective of the damage in gaza. A 13yearold Palestinian Girl showing what happened to her home after a strike. Look how it turned out. All the trees. All of the trees of our land. Theyre still getting out. People. This is where we are sleeping. This is where we are sleeping. The door, everything. Everything is rock. This is where i was sleeping. And here was where my Little Brother was sleeping. Everything is destroyed. Everything. The chair. We were sleeping on those pillows. The clothes. My closet. They are looking for people. They are still looking for people. This is our house. Understand how we can live like this anymore. Were children. I want to live. I cant live like this anymore. I cant. This morning a possible Nightmare Scenario for mexicos southern coast. Hurricane otis is slamming inland with winds of 110 Miles Per Hour right now. It did come ashore as a category 5 storm. It is now down to about a category 2. Lets get to Derek Van Dam for the latest on this storm. Derek . Yeah, john. The storm struck in the dead of night. Very little warning. Few models that picked up on the rapid intensification that it went through. The warm ocean waters at 88 degrees fahrenheit. It needs to be 80 degrees or higher. It found just that water and strengthened rapidly. 165 Miles Per Hour. This is the first category 5 landfall to impact the eastern pacific. The strongest storm to strike the pacific mexico. And the rapid intensification for this area. The 12hour window that rewrote the history books. The overall picture of a 24hour period, 115mileperhour strengthening. Thats incredible. Mindboggling to be honest. Acapulco, not only a tourist destination, but it has a Rez D Residency over a major metropolitan area. We see the visuals of the wind and the storm surge. Its a category 2 now. It is weakening rapidly. It will rain itself out. But the damage has been done. Taking people by surprise and taking the Meteorological Community by surprise, as well. This was not forecast to happen. It blew up from a Tropical Storm to a monster in a period of 24 hours. This is the new normal that were getting used to. Fingerprints written all over it. A lot of superlatives there. The first, the strongest, the most. Derek van dam, keep us posted when the pictures come in. Thank you very much. New details about the offduty pilot who is now arrested for trying to shut off a planes engine mid flight. Why he told the crew that they needed to cuff him. I could use a little help. Yeah, theres a lot of risk out there. Huh hey, is this thing hard to learn . Nah, its easy. Huh. You know, i think im going to ride it home. Good thing you chose u. S. Bank to manage and grow your money. With our 24 7 support at least youre not taking chances with your finances. Yeah, i think im gonna need a chair. Oh, ohhhh. Offduty pilot who is now charged with trying to turn off a planes engines midflight. Court documents reveal that he told the crew of that Alaska Airlines flight that he was having a nervous breakdown and needed to be subdued as this dangerous and very scary incident was playing out. He also told allegedly told police he took, quote, Magic Mushrooms 48 hours before that flight. Cnns pete muntean joins us now. Pete, he is facing a ton of charges now. What more are you learning about this . One attempted murder charge for each person onboard that flight and these incredible new details are coming out after joseph emersons appearance in an oregon court last night, kate. They told the story of a pilot in extreme distress who had told police he had been on mushrooms two days before this incident. This all comes from conversations that emerson had with police who met the flight on the ground in portland. This incident took place at 31,000 feet. Emerson was off duty, seated in the jump seat, the small seat behind the pilots essentially reserved for other Airline Pilots who are deadheading. Emerson said he reached up for two big, red handles at the top of the cockpit. Those are the Engine Fire Extinguisher handles that first cut off the flow fuel to the engines. Emmerson told police he pulled those handles because he thought he was in a dream and wanted to wake up, then there was a struggle. The pilots jammed those handles back in, emerson booted from the cockpit and according to police he told a flight attendant, you need to cuff me right now or its going to be bad. Flight attendants restrained him in the back of the plane and he tried to open an emergency exit, that he was in mental crisis, that he hadnt slept in 40 hours and he had consumed Magic Mushrooms 48 hours before this incident. He showed no visible signs of impairment before boarding in the jump seat, but the flying community is focusing on this. Emerson said he had been depressed for years and pilots often fear speaking up about their Mental Health because theyre worried theyll lose their faa medical certificate and lose their career and right now emerson is pleading not guilty to these charges. Pete, thank you very much for the update. So scary. John . A wonderful actor has passed away. Richard roundtree, the star of shaft was 81. Hes a complicated man, no one understands him, but his mama roundtrees manager said the actor had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died at his home in los angeles. He called roundtrees a 50year career a turning point for africanamerican leading men in film and his impact cannot be overstated. Gabrielle union tweeted, quote, he was always the coolest man in the room with the best vibes and everyone loved him. So we are standing by for what really, genuinely and finally might be the decisive vote for house speaker. We are getting a new whip count just in