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Democrats To End Sit-In Over Gun Control; United States Supreme Court Deadlocks On Immigration Orders; Baltimore Police Officer Acquitted In Death Of Freddie Gray; Congressman Lewis Walking Down Capitol Steps; Obama States How Immigration Ruling Is Frustrating; Supreme Court on Immigration; Supreme Court on Affirmative Action. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 23, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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


ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you to you. And thank you, everyone, for sticking with us on this wild ride. There's been a lot of breaking news. "WOLF" is going to take over right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

We're covering breaking news with developments unfolding on several stories this hour. The United States Supreme Court dead locks on controversial immigration orders issued by President Obama. You're going to hear the president's reaction. We'll break down the legal and the political impact of the ruling. It's significant.

Not guilty on all charges. A Baltimore police officer is acquitted in the death of Freddie Gray. The officer Caesar Goodson drove the van Gray was riding in when he suffered a fatal neck injury.

And House Democrats, right now, getting ready to end their sit-in over gun control but they're not giving up the fight. Let's listen in briefly.

REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA (live): Whenever you get engaged in something, live with a sense of dignity. Do it with a sense of pride. And be happy. And never, ever get lost in a sea of despair. Keep the faith. And that's what you did for 24 hours. It's not a struggle to do something about gun violence.

It's not a struggle that lasts for one day or one week or one month or one year. It is a struggle. But we're going to win this struggle. We're going to win this. We're going to go home, as Jim suggested. And I'm leaving as my friends and others have suggested. We're going to organize. We want to mobilize.

Our people are with us, not just in our district, but people all over America and around the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hear, hear. LEWIS: The social media told a story. And I just want to thank you guys, really. You know, (INAUDIBLE) spoke about you this morning. You got it out there. You got in the way. You got in trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble.

Lastly, we must never, ever give up or give in. We must keep the faith and we must come back here on July the fifth --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.

LEWIS: -- more determined than ever before.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hear, hear.

LEWIS: I know what it is to sit-in. But by sitting in, we're really standing up --

CROWD: Yes.

LEWIS: -- for the very best for America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

LEWIS: Dr. King said, on one occasion, we have a right to protest what is right. It's in keeping with our Constitution.

I remember one occasion when I was sitting in, I heard that if we continued to sit-in, we may get arrested and go to jail. I got arrested and went to jail. But even in jail, I felt free.

I tell you, you young sisters and brothers in our leadership, you're just so beautiful and so wonderful. So, I just want to thank you.

We're going to leave here. We're going out and down the steps to greet the people on the outside. The American people are with us and people around the world are with us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LEWIS: (INAUDIBLE.) So, thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.

BLITZER: John Lewis, the Congressman, the civil rights icon who helped lead this sit-in to protest the fact that there was no vote on the floor of the House of Representatives on gun control, flanked by Nancy Pelosi, the Minority Leader, the Democratic leader, and Steny Hoyer of the minority whip.

They've just wrapped up this sit-in that they had going since yesterday. I want to bring in our Senior Political Reporter Manu Raju who's up on Capitol Hill. He's been covering it from the very start.

So, Manu what happened because I thought this was going to go on indefinitely even though the House went into recess? MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, that's right, Wolf.

Just a short time ago, House Democrats had a closed-door meeting with their leadership team and others, on the -- on the whip team, what's known as the whip team, here on Capitol Hill.

[13:05:10] And these members came out of the meeting uncertain about whether they wanted to continue this on the House floor. They tried to test support internally whether or not there was much of an appetite to drag this out through the recess. And as you know, the House is going on to recess, not going to come back into session actually until after July fourth.

And there just wasn't that much appetite to continue to do that. Not because they don't believe in this issue they say. It's because they don't -- they believe that they have been effective in making their points politically.

They say that these protests are going to continue back in their home districts. They think they can be very effective in making their case back home. And they're not ruling out when they come back into session, after the July 4th recess, doing something similar again.

So, clearly, they -- there is some -- they believe they had a lot of momentum yesterday. And a lot of members are willing and ready to go home. They may not have had a lot of floor presence over the next couple of weeks and then probably a lot of people would stop paying attention to them. They may -- that they -- that right now was a good time to sort of pull the plug on this effort.

Now, I should note, Wolf, there's actually some significant developments happening on the gun vote on the Senate side of the Capitol. Later today, Susan Collins of Maine, she's been pushing a bill to deal with folks on that no-fly list and deny them the right to buy a firearm.

Now, that bill is coming for a procedural vote in the Senate later this afternoon. A test vote, if you will, to see if there is enough support to move this forward. And what we are hearing is they're probably not going to have enough support to eventually pass the Senate.

So -- and Collins actually criticized House Democrats for making this a partisan exercise, in her view. She's trying to make this kind of a bipartisan deal. But the NRA is opposed to her bill. They've had -- raising some constitutional concerns.

So, it just shows how stymied Congress is on this issue and that's one reason why we saw those theatrics in a very, very emotional and unusual scene play out on the House floor over the last day or last several hours and into the early morning hours -- Wolf.

BLITZER: So, we'll see if Republican Senator Susan Collins can get the 60 votes out of 100 in the U.S. Senate needed to move this piece of legislation forward. As you're suggesting now, that's really problematic. Other legislation earlier in the week, that failed the 60-vote margin as well. But let's say they do pass it in the Senate. It still has to go to the House. Is there any indication Paul Ryan, the speaker, would let the Susan Collins legislation, if it were to pass in the Senate, even come up for a vote in the House?

RAJU: You know, he has not ruled that out, specifically, Wolf. He was asked today, at his press conference, about the Collins' proposal. He said, well, we'll see what the Senate does first.

But he is -- he was adamant that he was not going to cave to these Democratic pressure tactics. He said that what the Democrats are doing is threatening democracy, in his words. He believes that this is not the way you get a vote to come up. He said there are procedures for forcing a vote and this is not one of them, to sort of hijack the House floor.

So, it's (INAUDIBLE) whether he would allow any gun vote to come up because, after all, he could essentially just allow a vote to come up, vote it down and move on. But he does not believe that these pressure tactics will work.

But even if it does pass the Senate, the chances of passing the House are very, very slim, largely because the NRA strongly opposes the Collins' bill. And, of course, there's the House that's controlled by Republicans who are close to NRA as well -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And we are seeing Congressman John Lewis walk down the steps of the U.S. Capitol. They've ended the sit -- the sit-in, at least for now. They're all going to be going back, presumably to their districts. They'll be getting on planes. But he's going to be making a statement, presumably, at least a little bit more of a statement to his supporters who have gathered at the bottom of these Capitol Hill steps.

All right, we're going to take a quick break. Much more coming up. There are some major decisions on the U.S. Supreme Court, as well, affecting millions of people here in the United States. We'll update you on that. A lot of breaking news happening. We'll be right back.

[13:09:10]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're also following breaking news from the United States Supreme Court which has delivered a major setback to President Obama on the hot button issue of immigration. The court deadlock four to four on the president's executive orders. That could've prevented more than 4 million undocumented immigrants from being deported. And now, his executive action is on hold. It will not be implemented.

Last hour, the president called the decision disappointing. He's clearly frustrated. But he also believes immigration reform eventually will become reality.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today's decision is frustrating to those who seek to grow our economy and bring a rationality to our immigration system and to allow people to come out of the shadows and lift this perpetual cloud on them.

I think it is heartbreaking for the millions of immigrants who made their lives here, who have raised families here, who hoped for the opportunity to work, pay taxes, serve in our military and more fully contribute to this country we all love in an open way.

Now, we've got a choice about who we're going to be as a country, what we want to teach our kids and how we want to be represented in Congress and in the White House. We're going to have to make a decision about whether we are a people who tolerate hypocrisy of the system where the workers who pick our fruit or make our beds never have the chance to get right with the law or whether we're going to give them a chance, just like our forbearers had a chance, to take responsibility and give their kids a better future. We're going to have to decide whether we are a people who accept the cruelty of ripping children from their parents' arms or whether we actually value families and keep them together for the sake of all of our communities.

We're going to have to decide whether we're a people who continue to educate the world's brightest students in our high schools and universities only to send then them away to compete against us or whether we encourage them to stay and create new jobs and new businesses right here in the United States.

[13:15:08]

These are all the questions that voters now are going to have to ask themselves and are going to have to answer in November. These are the issues that are going to be debated by candidates across the country, both congressional candidates, as well as the presidential candidates. And in November, Americans are going to have to make a decision about what we care about and who we are. I promise you this, though, sooner or later immigration reform will get done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: For more on the ruling and its impact, let's bring in our CNN justice correspondent Pamela Brown, our CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, and our senior political reporter, Nia-Malika Henderson.

First of all, Pamela, walk us through the basics of this case, because you could see the disappointment in the president's words and in his face.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. So as we heard, the Supreme Court was deadlocked over the president's executive action on immigration. This program would have shielded more than 4 million undocumented immigrants from deportation and would have allowed them to apply for work and receive work benefits. Now, opponents of the program said that this was an overreach of the president's power, that this was really a job for Congress, not the president. But the administration argued that the president has the discretion to decide who is deported and who is not deported. And this would allow these more than 4 million undocumented immigrants considered low priorities to come out of the shadows. But because this - the court was deadlocked, this means a lower court's ruling stands. A program will not move forward. But there is no national precedent here, Wolf.

BLITZER: But these 4 million individual, whose would have benefitted from the president's executive action, now no longer have that benefit?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: That's right. And I think one of the main purposes of President Obama's statement was to try to calm a certain amount of the fear that those folks face. He said that the policy of not deporting people in those categories, people who came as children to the United States, the so-called dreamers, the parents of American citizens. They are still going to be low priority for deportation.

The problem that they are going to have, and this is the core of the significance of the decision today, is that they are not going to have the right to go get jobs, to go qualify for Social Security cards, to come out of the shadows. That is very much on hold. So that's the problem that they face now. They're not going to be deported, but they will still have to be in this legal limbo.

BLITZER: Yes, it's not just an academic (INAUDIBLE). It has a direct impact on a lot of people who thought they would be able to come out of the shadows.

TOOBIN: That's right. You know, sometimes the Supreme Court decisions, you know, when we feel - talk about them in terms of abstractions, this is not an abstract case. This is a case about the lives of more than 4 million people who live in the country.

BLITZER: And, Nia, as the president said, the political fallout from all of this going into a presidential election, where the next president of the United States will have an opportunity to name one or two or three Supreme Court justices, have an impact, not for four or eight years, but for 20, 30 or 40 years. That will be a key issue for American voters.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right. I mean in the wake of this decision, I think all of our inboxes were flooded with messages and reaction to this from progressives and Democrats on the one hand who really wanted to frame this as a human issue, sort of human toll. They strictly used words like "devastating" and "heartbreaking." And then Republicans, Reince Priebus, just sent out a statement saying that this was a victory for the rule of law and our democracy. So I think that's the framing we'll see.

I think over the last couple of days we've seen how salient the culture wars still are. On the one hand, we've had the gun control debate going on. Today, immigration reform. Monday, a decision on an abortion case from Texas again. And I think that is what we'll see going into November. These are the issues that the Supreme Court has historically ruled on and these are the issues that energize both of the bases of the party. I think for Republicans, I think this issue of whether or not they can expand, whether or not they can be a party where there are different types of people, different demographic groups that they can appeal to, that's going to be a real issue for them if you think about states like Florida, states like Colorado, states like Nevada, 17 to 19 percent Latino electorate likely in 2016. So they've got something to deal with. But you can see Democrats certainly being passionate about this and they'll see the same thing from the GOP as well.

BLITZER: Yes, Republicans will be passionate as well.

Listen to the speaker of the House, Jeffrey, Paul Ryan, reacting to the Supreme Court decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: This is a win for the Constitution. It's a win for Congress. And it's a win in our fight to restore the separation of powers. President don't write laws, Congress writes laws.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: That's been their argument all along.

[13:20:00] TOOBIN: Right. And I'm reminded of what Speaker Ryan said to you yesterday when you interviewed him about, you know, his uneasy relationship with Donald Trump. And the one thing he said is, look, Donald Trump will appoint conservatives to the Supreme Court. And if we learn anything from today, we learn the significance and the Supreme Court again in the centrally of the Supreme Court in the presidential election.

You know, Republicans like Speaker Ryan obviously don't care a great deal for Donald Trump, but they are correct in knowing, in recognizing that Donald Trump will appoint very different people to the Supreme Court from Hillary Clinton, and that alone is - justifies supporting them.

BLITZER: Hillary Clinton tweeted today, "today's heartbreaking SCOTUS immigration ruling could tear apart 5 million families facing deportation. We must do better."

Pamela, there was another major decision by the U.S. Supreme Court today as well involving affirmative actions and colleges, specifically the University of Texas.

BROWN: Right. And I think Jeffrey can agree, this was a bit of a surprise ruling. This was - it was seven justices and Justice Kennedy sided with the liberals, upholding this affirmative action program from the University of Texas. This is the second time this case has made it to the court, and it revolves around Abigail Fisher, a white woman from Texas who sued the university for discrimination because of her race. She says the fact that see was white put her at a disadvantage. This Texas program essentially allows student in Texas who are at the 10 percent of their class to automatically be accepted. And then on top of that, they consider race as a factor for admission. And so the justices today essentially said that race can continue to be used as a factor under this Texas program, but there were some strong descents from Justices Alito and Thomas.

BLITZER: And you heard the president say he welcomed this decision, as opposed to the other decision on immigration, on the this decision affirming, in effect, affirmative action as a factor in admittance at U.S. colleges. The president welcomed that.

TOOBIN: Justice Kennedy has been on the Supreme Court since 1987, a long time. And in every major affirmative action case since 1987, he has voted against affirmative action. Now he has found a program at the University of Texas that he thinks is constitutional. And this is going to be very much a green light to admissions offices, in public and private universes, to use race as one factor, not the only factor, not a green light for quotas, but to consider the value of diversity on university campuses. And that, again, is practically a very big deal in terms of how our campuses are going to look going forward.

BLITZER: And yet this, politically speaking, was a victory for the liberals.

HENDERSON: That's right. And, again, I mean I think it goes back to what we were talking about before, the culture wars, right? And, again, you saw from progressives really cheering this and cheering the idea that they seem to - the Supreme Court affirmed the idea that diversity is a good thing, right? And in many ways, I think you're going to see Democrats more broadly, that, in some ways, is going to be their argument going forward in November, in 2016, talking about what America looks like and what America should be. You heard the president talk about that in his speech today, this idea Congress has to recognize what America looks like. So, again, you know, this was an important day, in some ways unexpected with this affirmative action decision, and then to be determined in terms of immigration reform.

BLITZER: Two very important decisions by the United States Supreme Court today. They're wrapping up their sessions there. We think Monday, that will be the last day?

BROWN: Monday.

BLITZER: A couple of other decisions we're still waiting for.

BROWN: Absolutely.

BLITZER: All right, thanks very much, guys.

Coming up, President Obama frustrated with that Supreme Court decision to keep some undocumented immigrants from being able to work legally, live legally here in the United States, laying some of the blame on the GOP. We're going to talk to a leading House Republican. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [13:28:22] BLITZER: We're following the breaking news, the U.S. Supreme Court deadlocking on President Obama's executive action that would have allowed millions of undocumented immigrants to stay and work legally here in the United States. The ruling comes nearly two years after President Obama stood behind a podium urging immigrants, in his words, "to come out of the shadows." Last hour he also stood behind a podium, a lectern at the White House, to address the Supreme Court's decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to have to make a decision about whether we are a people who tolerate the hypocrisy of the system where the workers who pick our fruit, or make our beds, never have the chance to get right with the law, or whether we're going to give them a chance, just like our forbearers had a chance, to take responsibility and give their kids a better future. We're going to have to decide whether we're a people who accept the cruelty of ripping children from their parents' arms, or whether we actually value families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, let's talk about this with Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.

Congressman, thanks for joining us.

Your reaction to what we just heard from the president.

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R), ILLINOIS: Well, look, I agree with the Supreme Court's decision upholding the lower court because, you know, this is a debate that belongs in Congress. It belongs in elections, election cycles. These are debates to have. It does not belong in a president who decides he's not getting what he wants, therefore makes an executive order.

I agree with the idea of immigration reform. I think it's something we need. I've been very outspoken about it. But it's something that has to be sustainable coming through the House of Representatives. And, you know, simply the president's frustration on inaction is not an excuse to put forward an executive order.

[13:30:03] And I think one of the thing people forget is, at the point he launched this executive order a few years ago, we were actually making progress to a bipartisan immigration reform solution.