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Trump Answers Questions On The Mueller Report In New Interview; Is U.S. Ramping Up Cyberattacks Against Russia?; Phoenix Mayor Apologizes After Video Captures Disturbing Arrest; Supreme Court Nearing End Of Term; New Episode Of "United Shades Of America;" CNN Heroes. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired June 16, 2019 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:28] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Father's Day, Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in New York.

President Trump back at the White House after spending Father's Day on the golf course and also back attacking the Russia probe. In a new interview with ABC News, the president is defending his actions and says he could have fired Special Counsel Robert Mueller if he wanted to. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Robert Mueller had a total --

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: And has to go?

TRUMP: I never -- I didn't say that. If I -- look. Article 2, I would be allowed to fire Robert Mueller. There was not -- assuming, assuming I did all of the things I said I want to fire him, number one, I didn't. He wasn't fired. OK. Number one, very importantly. But more importantly, Article 2 allows me to do whatever I want. Article 2 would have allowed me to fire him.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So it sounds like --

TRUMP: But I wasn't going to fire, you know why? Because I watched Richard Nixon go around firing everybody and that didn't work out too well. So very simply, Article 2 would allow me to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. This comes as new polling shows growing support for the launching of impeachment hearings. The new NBC News- "Wall Street Journal" poll found 27 percent of Americans now say there is enough evidence to move forward with hearings. That's up 10 points from last month.

Let's check in now with CNN's White House Correspondent, Boris Sanchez.

So, Boris, is that top of mind for the president and the White House right now?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It certainly is. If you look at his tweets, Fred. We'll get to in just a sec, but we really have to point out the president is indulging in some revisionist history here. If you look at the Mueller report, it clearly states there were at least 10 occasions in which the president tried to interfere or intervene in the Russia investigation, specifically when he told former White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Robert Mueller. McGahn threatened to quit and the president ultimately relented.

But this is coming from McGahn himself. This is what he told the special counsel when he was interviewed. So the president clearly going back on what he actually discussed with his former counsel.

The president was also asked about speculation that's out there that he may be prosecuted once he leaves office. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: You're not worried about being prosecuted once you leave office?

TRUMP: I did nothing wrong, George. Did nothing wrong. There was no collusion. You don't even hear Russia mentioned anymore. Russia is not mentioned. Now it's all about obstruction of -- obstruction of what? They built up a phony crime. They hired a man that hated Trump. He hired 18 people that were Democrats that hated Trump. Some of them contributed to Clinton's campaign. A couple of them worked for Clinton. I mean, what kind of a rigged deal is this?

And then on top of it, after two years, and after being the most transparent in history, I gave them 1.5 million pages of documents, right? I gave them 400 or 500 witnesses. I let Don McGahn testify. I let him -- he was the White House counsel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: As for impeachment, the president has reiterated that he has done nothing wrong and that he can't be impeached for helping to make the economy great again.

The president is pretty confident here. In fact, today he tweeted that if he's re-elected in 2020, then by the end of his second term, the public may demand that he keeps running past eight years in office, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And Boris, the president launching his re-election campaign officially this week but then already now some reported changes in that re-election campaign?

SANCHEZ: Yes, Fred. This all has to do with some polling that leaked this week. You recall that there were reports out last week that indicated that President Trump was losing in certain key states to prominent Democrats, including Joe Biden. States that the president won back in 2016. The president denied that saying that he was winning in every internal poll. But apparently the president grew furious when those polls actually leaked and showed the president losing in those key states.

Now we're learning, according to two campaign officials, that certain pollsters doing work for the campaign are being fired. One official, though, told CNN that they lament that now the campaign is more focused on ending the leak and trying to find who gave this information to the press than it is on trying to improve the president's numbers in key states like Pittsburgh and Florida, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Boris Sanchez, thank you, at the White House.

SANCHEZ: Pennsylvania. Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Got it. Appreciate it.

All right. Let's talk more about all of this. Julian Zelizer is a historian and professor at Princeton University and a CNN political analyst. Olivia Nuzzi is a Washington correspondent for "New York" magazine.

Thanks to both of you.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you.

OLIVIA NUZZI, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK MAGAZINE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, so, Julian, you first. You know, the president trying to rewrite accounts saying in this recent interview because of Article 2 he could have fired Mueller, but he just didn't want to. He could do anything he wants.

[16:05:11] And meantime, you got Don McGahn's earlier testimony, you know, saying that he was asked to carry out those orders but refused to do so.

How is this beneficial for the president to stick to the narration that he wants regardless of what the report may have said?

ZELIZER: That's always his strategy. If the facts say one thing, he will say what he wants, and he is just going to contradict what the Mueller report says. And on Article 2, he is claiming immense presidential power. So it's not simply that the report is wrong.

WHITFIELD: He can do whatever he wants.

ZELIZER: It's that he can do whatever he wants. It's a Nixonian defense of the presidency. And I think those are the two pillars of what you're going to hear in the coming months.

WHITFIELD: Olivia, you know, the president officially re-launches his 2020 bid. You know, for the White House. Do you expect this Russia Mueller investigation will still be a part of his messaging to voters, even if it doesn't seem to be boding well for him?

NUZZI: Certainly. I think that he enjoys having an enemy. He doesn't have Hillary Clinton anymore but he's still talking about her. He uses the media consistently as an enemy. And Robert Mueller and that investigation, this idea that he is somehow a victim, I think he's very attractive to him, even if it's not translating clearly based on the campaign's internal polling that leaked to another network.

If it's not translating to popularity for him, if it's not working, I don't think that he can get it out of his head that it's attractive to his base and it might be to the base when he talks about being victimized by, you know, some shadowy deep state and the Democrats and the media. So this is all part of that.

WHITFIELD: So, Julian, in that ABC interview, the president, you know, has said he's really not worried about being prosecuted, you know, after leaving office. In fact, he feels fairly confident that he will win re-election. Should he be worried?

ZELIZER: Well, he should be worried on both fronts. There are investigations beyond the Mueller report, including the Southern District here in New York and people have said there are real crimes being investigated. And so that would worry him once he doesn't have presidential power. And really --

WHITFIELD: Yes. There were recommendations coming from the Mueller report.

ZELIZER: That's exactly right.

WHITFIELD: To other jurisdictions.

ZELIZER: Some of this went elsewhere. And then on re-election, he should also be worried and that's what the internal polling is not showing that it's not clear he is on path to be one of the incumbents re-elected. He's vulnerable with many different Democratic candidates. So on both fronts he might say that but there's a lot of evidence to explain why privately he might be more concerned.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and what does that say that he would fire or there would be a reshaping of those in his re-election campaign, that is information that is not favorable to him polling. He reportedly is dismissing personnel.

ZELIZER: That's exactly right. And the Mueller report, another part of it is what he says isn't always what's happening behind the scenes. And we need to remember that. He was giving different instructions than what you hear about. And on the campaign is going to be a similar dynamic. He plays for the cameras and he says one thing but privately there's more turmoil and conflict than is often seen from the White House.

WHITFIELD: And speaking of this polling, new FOX News polling finding that 50 percent of registered voters think the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election. And that is the highest number in two years. Of that poll asking that question. So, Olivia, you know, given the recent comments from the president

about, you know, being -- having a willingness to listen to the dirt and not necessarily instinctively going to the FBI right away. What does this say about the president and whether he really can recover, you know, from this.

NUZZI: Well, I think when he is being really extra, like he is on Twitter lately and saying things like, oh, maybe he'll stay -- people will want him to stay longer. He'll be so popular. I think that's when you know that he's really trying to rewrite what's going on around him and really trying to shape everyone's perception of reality. When he's being really dramatic and over the top. And I think that -- I don't know if he will really get the message, though he continues to talk about things, even when they prove to not be popular topics for him expanding his base.

I think he is so -- he's so susceptible to kind of adulation from the base and from being propped up by them that he is not able to think better of it and say what can expand my support to other people who I need? And so he's I think likely to continue doing things and saying things that appeal to the people who love him already. And not looking for ways to expand his support other to factions of the Republican Party.

WHITFIELD: Yes, the president likes to continue to surround himself by people who are loyal to him and among them, you know --

NUZZI: And it's so like him.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

NUZZI: And it's so like him, by the way, to get off on a tangent and want to plug the leaks in the campaign and make that the issue rather than, you know, what -- why did this leak? What does this number say about my popularity and how can I improve it? That's typical --

WHITFIELD: Right. It's intentional.

NUZZI: Yes.

[16:10:01] WHITFIELD: It's not by mistake. So this week, among those who have, you know, been very loyal to the president, former White House aide communications director Hope Hicks. She's going to be testifying this week. Still a question as to whether the White House will exert executive privilege, stand in the way of any kind of truthful, honest testimony.

What does the president have to gain or lose by her testimony?

ZELIZER: Well, as a witness, she can be very damaging. She's very close to the president. She was in the campaign. She was the communications director. So I do think the White House understands that if she speaks and she has bad things to say, this will give Democrats a lot of material to further their investigation. It's behind closed doors. That plays in the president's favor. Part of what hearings can do is

allow the public to see the people in the White House, to watch them and hear them say what happened. And he has avoided that until this point. We'll see if he also exerts executive privilege. But that's how he's trying to check the information.

WHITFIELD: Yes. But, Olivia, it will be back to what do you have to hide. If exerting that kind of executive privilege takes place, or if for any reason she is reticent about sharing, divulging information, therein lies that big mysterious question, what do you have to hide?

NUZZI: Right. And, you know, I think that we shouldn't downplay what a big deal this is, that she has agreed to come speak to the community. She's the first aide that they've requested to agree to do so. She is one of the closest people to him since before the campaign even launched.

She worked for the Trump Organization. She's close to the family. And something that I think is interesting is, you know, I've done a lot reporting on Hope Hicks over the years, and in the campaign and in the White House, people really try to emulate her.

Other White House staffers, they wanted to be like her because she was so well liked. She survived for so long. She was kind of this figure that people idolized. And I think it's interesting to see maybe whether or not people will follow her lead because she's testifying now. And follow what she does in that testimony once we see the transcript.

WHITFIELD: We shall see. Olivia Nuzzi, Julian Zelizer, good to see both of you.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

NUZZI: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, "The New York Times" reporting that the U.S. has deployed potentially crippling computer code into the country's power grid. The president now accusing that paper, that newspaper of, quote, "virtual treason." We'll explain why, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:15:55] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in New York. President Trump lashing out at "The New York Times" accusing the paper of virtual treason after a - "The Times" published a report claiming the U.S. has escalated online attacks on Russia's power grid and apparently they didn't tell the president. The report says the U.S. has embedded software code that can be used for surveillance or attack.

Matthew Chance has Russia's reaction from Moscow.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's been a pretty muted response so far in the Russian media. State television suggesting it's not altogether surprising that countries would attempt to probe each other's cybersecurity. But also pointing out how there probably have been an hysterical reaction if the story was the other way and Russian officials have been briefing journalists that they deeply infiltrated the infrastructure of the United States.

In general, this revelation in "The New York Times" is likely to add yet another point of contention in the U.S.-Russian relationship which is already strained over allegations of Russian meddling in U.S. politics, the wars in Syria and Ukraine and a number of recent semantics by the Trump administration, such as the additional deployments of U.S. forces to Poland.

Russia, of course, let's not forget this, has a track record of carrying out cyberattacks against its own adversaries in Ukraine, in Georgia, in Estonia, for example. And any moves to position itself better to carry out cyberattacks of its own against Russia could be seen as a warning ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential elections.

The U.S. now has the ability to retaliate. Anyway, the issue is likely as I say to become yet another area of tension between the two leaders, between -- before a meeting between them which is scheduled to be had on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Japan.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

WHITFIELD: Garrett Graff is with me now. He's a contributing editor at "Wired" and co-author of "Dawn of the Code War."

Garret, good to show you. So what can you tell us about, you know, the kinds of code that is apparently being used inside Russia's power grid? How does this work?

GARRETT GRAFF, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, WIRED: So this appears to be, according to "The "New York Times," an operation carried out by the NSA and Cyber Command under its relatively new commander general, Paul Nakasone. And this is, in many ways, it appears sort of evening the playing field because we have seen reports for many years about Russian penetrations of American critical infrastructure, including especially the electrical grid.

That has raised concerns in the U.S., partly because -- and this is a problem both on offense and on defense in cybersecurity. The laying the groundwork for an attack in cyberspace looks a lot similar, whether you are doing it for defensive purposes or for offensive purposes. So even if the Russians are attacking our power grid or we are attacking theirs, and laying the groundwork for what we would only use as a retaliatory strike, that looks very similar to something that could be a first strike capability.

That's really one of the things that makes countries particularly nervous when you begin to see cyberoperations targeting critical infrastructure.

WHITFIELD: And what are your concerns that this information would be published and that this information is published and, you know, claims that not even the president had been briefed on this. But the action is permissible, even without the president's briefing, but he might be hearing about it for the first time in this manner.

GRAFF: Yes. So there are a couple of different things going on there that are worth unpacking. One is President Trump has loosened the reins on offensive cyberoperations by Cyber Command over the last year or so. And that that allows these types of operations to be carried out with the authorization of the secretary of Defense not necessarily coming to the White House for a so-called presidential finding, which is the policy as it has existed under President Obama.

[16:20:16] During Obama's eight years, we just didn't see that many offensive cyberoperations at all. The chief of staff of the Pentagon at one point said that he could count on one hand the total number of cyberoperations that had been carried out on offense.

And that -- so then the second thing, and this in "The New York Times" reporting is particularly odd and worrisome is that even though these operations could be carried out with the authorization of the Pentagon alone, that the Pentagon is actually trying to keep word of this from the president because of concerns that the president would either try to shut it down or leak it inadvertently to foreign officials, which is exactly what you saw happen in a previous very sensitive covert operation that President Trump actually just blurted out to the Russian foreign minister when he was in the Oval Office the morning after the firing of Jim Comey, compromised an Israeli operation that was supposed to be secret.

WHITFIELD: Garrett Graff, we'll leave it there for now. Thanks so much.

Still ahead, the city of Phoenix taking action after this shocking video showing the arrest of a couple accused of shoplifting. How the mayor is responding to the controversy now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:25:18] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. The mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, is apologizing to the community after cell phone video captured a disturbing police encounter involving a couple and their children. The video showed officers shouting vulgar language, pulling a gun out while arresting the couple with their two young children looking on.

The police report confirms that arrest was prompted by a shoplifting, an alleged shoplifting incident. And now that couple is planning to sue the Phoenix Police Department for $10 million. Several officers are now on desk duty while authorities investigate this controversial arrest.

CNN's Stephanie Elam joining me right now.

So, Stephanie, what more can you tell us about the response coming from the city of Phoenix, particularly the mayor.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, Fred, when you take a look at the video, it is 12 minutes long. The police department in Phoenix saying that they became aware of this video on June 11th. This incident happened at the end of May. And now that young couple, they're in their early 20s. They have two daughters. One you can see in the video is being carried in the arm. The other one walking alongside her. And the woman in this case, her name is Iesha Harper and her fiance Dravon Ames.

Iesha Harper actually five months pregnant at the time. So you can take a look at the video and you look right away, you can see where the police officer is sort of sweeping away Ames' legs at the same time while Harper is coming out of the car.

Just take a quick look so you can actually see if -- look right away because you'll see it happen there in this video. And that is what is really part of the issue here.

Just let you listen for a second.

All right. Now as you watch that, obviously, a lot of people up in arms that this was the response over a shoplifting claim. This is what the mayor has said here. She said, quote, "I am deeply sorry for what this family went through, and I apologize to our community. This is not who we are and I refuse to allow this type of behavior to go unchallenged. I've spoken directly with our police chief, city manager and our public safety subcommittee chairman."

So she is calling for some changes. She's calling for there to be sort of a town hall about this, a community meeting on Tuesday. They are also looking to implement those body-worn cameras much quicker than usual than they were planning to. Have them implemented by August. And also the fact that the officers have been placed on desk duty.

And we've heard from the police chief herself as well, Fred. Jeri Williams coming out and saying that there will be an immediate internal investigation and that she's, quote, "disturbed by the language and the actions of our officers." However, when you take a look at this police report, Fred, they do say that this -- they were already responding to one shoplifting account happening because the store manager called when then the store manager said there was another shoplifting incident involving this couple.

And so that is why they stopped them. The couple saying that there were not lights on. That they did not know that it was a police officer stopping them. The police report, however, says that that is not exactly true because they're saying -- Harper actually said that she did note they were stopped but the fiance, her fiance was afraid to stop because of the cops. But what you're seeing, Fred, is that people believe no matter what, if it's a shoplifting claim, that this response was just way too much.

WHITFIELD: Stephanie Elam, thank you so much for that report.

All right. Still ahead, balance on the U.S. Supreme Court is shifting as it nears the end of its term leaving several key decisions open. Will Justice John Roberts become the crucial swing vote in place of Justice Kennedy? We discuss, next.

[16:30:01] (COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. As the U.S. Supreme Court nears the end of term, some big decisions could be on the horizon. The Court has until the end of the month to either release opinions or decide to postpone the decisions. And among those decisions or cases, whether to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census and whether judges will be allowed to curtail partisan gerrymanders, making it nearly impossible to unseat the controlling party in a state.

So let's bring in Gloria Browne-Marshall, a constitutional rights professor at the John J. College of Criminal Justice.

Good to see you. All right, so two really big cases, the first one on the whole census question about asking of citizenship, etcetera, will this Court be able to make a decision, come to some kind of consensus?

GLORIA BROWNE-MARSHALL, PROFESSOR, JOHN J. COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE: I think they will, but it's not just the citizenship question, whether or not that should be on the census. The census is taken from the U.S. Constitution from the enumeration clause, Article One Section One and Two. And that says you have to have a census. But it doesn't say what the questions are. So when you begin to think about what questions should be on a census outside of, do you exist?

Are you in the country? Can you be counted? What they find in this case is whether or not they skipped a lot of the steps in the process to put this question on the census in the first place. And so the federal Court judge is not just asking about the constitutionality of this census question. They are asking about the procedure used to put the question on the census.

WHITFIELD: And there was public outrage.

BROWNE-MARSHALL: Yes.

WHITFIELD: And really on the lines of, you know, whether this was political. You know, or how political it was to be including the question.

BROWNE-MARSHALL: It is political.

WHITFIELD: But now since when will the Supreme Court be persuaded by public opinion?

BROWNE-MARSHALL: The Supreme Court is made up of human beings. And so, of course, they have a sense of whether or not the public likes or dislikes what they are doing. But the Supreme Court is also more of a reactionary form of the branches. It means that, you know, the Congress says we're going to listen to the American people. You know, Justice Roberts, as you pointed out before, is someone who believes in the core of the Court.

But he's also someone who is trying to balance off all these factions, and now the increased distrust of the Supreme Court based on what happened with Brett Kavanaugh as well as the turns of the conservativism that we're now seeing on the Court. And this issue of whether or not the president directly influenced putting this question on the census has made it a political question.

[16:34:55] WHITFIELD: And then the second big case here, the Supreme Court, you know, has put a hold on the lower Court rulings in Ohio, Michigan, that ordered new, you know, voting maps. This all happening as the justices do look at other cases as it pertains to partisan gerrymandering. So with these cases, you know, stacking up. Do you expect that the Court will want some expediency on ruling on this?

BROWNE-MARSHALL: Twenty-twenty is going to be a big election. We know with the meddling of the Russians in 2016, people don't trust the system. And as I said before, Chief Justice Roberts is afraid that if the Court enters into the fray of politics and talking about gerrymandering that it's going to further undermine the Court. But at the same time, partisan gerrymandering based on politics, racial gerrymandering based on race discrimination are two different things but they overlap.

Because of so many voters or African-American, Latino, people who generally vote Democratic because of the ideals of the Democratic Party. If it's partisan, then is it partisan based on race or partisan based on politics? And that's what the Court is afraid to enter into, because it's difficult to ferret out what it is. But some of these are purely political.

WHITFIELD: And as it pertained to Chief Justice Roberts, you used the word, you know, he's worried. You say he's worried because, you know, he did recently have to remind, you know, the world, namely the president about the Supreme Court's independence. And, you know, there are five conservatives chosen by Republicans on the bench.

But is the pressure or is the chief justice responding to pressure where he has to remind everyone of independence?

BROWNE-MARSHALL: I don't want to use the word embarrassed, but I think the chief justice is -- I've met him a few times. And I've covered the Court in the press box. He is a dignified person who wants the Court seen as a dignified body. And what has dragged into the political maelstrom. He becomes uncomfortable, and he almost is embarrassed for the Court that Donald Trump is saying these things like he can actually dictate what the Court is trying to do.

And what happened with the Brett Kavanaugh and as well as the last three. You know, we're not even going back to the nominee of Obama. That didn't get through. It's become a political maelstrom, and he's afraid that it's going to look even worse after he decides these political cases.

WHITFIELD: All right. Gloria, thank you so much, always good to see you, Gloria Browne-Marshall.

BROWNE-MARSHALL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up next, people in Flint, Michigan, say they feel blindsided after government officials dropped all charges in the water scandal. Kamau Bell, W. Kamau Bell, host of United Shades of America went there to tell their stories. He'll be joining us live, next.

[16:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This week on an all new episode of United Shades of America, W. Kamau Bell takes us to two of the most toxic cities in America to find out how manmade environmental disasters are wreaking havoc on their residents, especially people of color in low-income communities. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a public health crisis.

W. KAMAU BELL, UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA HOST: Sharon Bryant, a teacher with over 25 years of experience has taught at Cassidy. Last year, Chelsea was one of her star students.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe Cassidy was supposed to have been closed a few years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last year, they told people that we couldn't stay here anymore, so then we had to move to a different classroom. The closet had this dust that made people sick.

BELL: OK. So in here, I don't want you to get sick by coming in here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is that my room in 302?

BELL: Yeah, that's 302.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. That was the room when the dust sample testing came back. The results were alarming. And I just broke down because I heard my kids turn that closet into a playground. Like an indoor playground. And they were in there playing and rolling around on the floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh my, gosh. That is so troubling to hear, joining me right now the host, United Shades of America, W. Kamau Bell. OK, so, you know, you were inspired by -- largely inspired by what has been transpiring in Flint, Michigan, only to find out that there are other cities like these two, Chester, Philadelphia, where people are being polluted. You know, with man-made pollutants and environments.

And to hear about this classroom which was contaminated and it really also served as an indoor classroom. There's a lot of outrage here. And have people been conveying to you that they have essentially felt invisible? Nobody has been hearing their complaints or addressing these complaints, even though it's common knowledge?

BELL: Yeah. I mean even when you talk about Flint, which we initially thought about going there. You know, we are also to note that Flint does not have clean water. But we haven't -- but there hasn't been a lot done to fix it. There are people in Flint who still don't trust their drinking water. And so then we looked around the country and found out there are situations like Flint all over the country.

And we don't talk about them as much as we even talk about Flint. And so you talk about a school like Cassidy Elementary where Chelsea goes, who Chelsea is amazing, she is still going to that school where there's this closet where there was this pollutant that was coming out of it. I think it might have been asbestos. But, you know, and it got Sharon Bryant, the teacher we talked to, sick.

And yet that school is still open. There are still kids going there. You know, there's been no effort to shut it down or to fix it up. And so -- and these are our kids.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. And so what are the answers as to why, you know, no efforts are being made or at least that's the complaint, right, that no efforts are made to shut it down and clean it up, answers being?

BELL: I mean, you know, it's the same problem as always. It just takes resources and time to clean these things up. But when you are a person of color in America and you don't have resources, they don't -- you don't get the support that you need. And this is true all over the country. Now, while these things can affect people of all income level, because we talk about a neighborhood called Fish Town where, you know, it gets gentrified.

And people with money who are white move to take over this neighborhood. And yet, they're still moving into houses that have lead paint in them. And then their kids get affected by the lead paint in the houses. So it can affect everybody, but it's always been American affects people of color who don't have a high income first of all.

[16:45:07] WHITFIELD: Who are being led to feel like they are not of value, and that's the bottom line. They're not being treated as though they are of value. So you found these toxic places like garbage dumps, factories, and incinerators that in these communities is common knowledge that they are pollutants. Are people talking candidly to you about how they lodge their complaints?

What kind of reception they get? I mean what's the response besides being, you know, led to believe that they're not of value?

BELL: I mean it's the same thing all over. We met an activist in Julie Mayfield in Chester. Chester is a city that used to be a thriving manufacturing city with a thriving black middle class. But then the manufacturing left America as it did from a lot of places, and it ended up with factories moving where they them looloos, locally unwanted land use where it's like garbage treatment factories in places like that, that only go to neighborhoods that can't fight them.

They're not going to go Beverly Hills. They're going to neighborhoods where the people can't fight them and stop them. And then they don't employ the people in that town, so the town has a high unemployment level, and they're also having factories that are polluting the people there. And so suing and a lot of people there are fighting for it, but they still feel like they're not being heard.

Because, you know, as much as I get accused of being a socialist on Twitter, capitalism is the law of the land in America. So if you can make a dollar off of it that becomes more important than the lives of black and brown folks.

WHITFIELD: So troubling. W. Kamau Bell, thank you so much. Thanks for also to, you know...

(CROSSTALK)

BELL: Also Happy Father's Day.

WHITFIELD: Oh, yeah. And Happy Father's Day to you, that's so cute.

BELL: My daughter drew this shirt. That's me and my 4 1/2-year-old daughter. It is dead on. It looks exactly like me and my 4 1/2-year- old daughter obviously.

WHITFIELD: I love it. This is how she sees you. It's beautiful, happy dad's day. And thanks for shining the spotlight, really putting the magnifying glass on what really continue to be horrendous conditions for just too many people. Be sure to tune in to an all new episode of "United Shades of America" with W. Kamau Bell, airing tonight at 10:00 Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

All right, next, a Happy Father's Day surprise for a blue star dad overseas. A look at the touching tribute from their children right here at home.

[16:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: He hails from Scotland, but this week's CNN Hero feeds hungry schoolchildren in 18 countries around the world through his nonprofit, Mary's Meals. Magnus McFarland Barrow was honored as a CNN Hero in 2010 where he befriended actor Gerard Butler, and the two recently visited Haiti together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The greatest privilege of doing this work is meeting those children who are eating these meals. The numbers become just mind-boggling after a while. But the real beauty is watching those children become the people they're meant to be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember we went just before lunch and they were tired. Then they had lunch, and it was like different people. And then you realize the simple value of this program.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, to find out more about Magnus' life-changing work and his friendship with Gerard Butler, go to CNNHeroes.com. And as we celebrate Father's Day today, children in many military families won't be able to celebrate with their deployed dads. CNN's Brianna Keilar spoke with kids from three military families associated with blue star families.

All of their dads are currently serving overseas. Here's what they are looking forward to this Father's Day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I like about my dad being in the military is, like, when he's like done with, like, a certain place, we like -- my dad finds a new job at another state and we have to move.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was born in Alaska. Then we moved to Georgia, Arizona, and California, then Washington State, then here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I moved from Texas to Florida to Alabama and then to here, so four times.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: How do you describe what your dad does for work?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Daddy flies airplanes and grandpa flies airplanes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's in the Air Force, so he has -- he like flies a certain kind of plane. Like every time we move, he gets a new job for flying.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My dad is in the Army.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said that he can't grow a beard when he's in the military, so, like, he -- when he's out of the military, he'll just grow it. But I don't want him to get a beard, though.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is that one of the...

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Is one of the pluses of having your dad in the military is that he doesn't grow a beard then?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kind of, yeah.

KEILAR: What's hard about having your dad in the military?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sometimes promotions, (Inaudible) everybody everywhere in the promotion which is like very -- I'm like, can we go eat cake now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had a best friend for like three years. And then we were having such a good time. We had the best teacher. We had like the best year and stuff, and then we had to move.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very difficult to make new friends.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the time. I'm, like, kind of happy and sad. Like happy for making new friends and sad for leaving my, like, old school and like missing out on special things that my teacher always does.

KEILAR: Tell me about daddy. Is daddy this big or is he a little bigger?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's this big.

KEILAR: He's that big?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's bigger. Like as a real person.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's a real person size?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But I miss him. We, like, got it for the first deployment of my life. When I am, like, missing him, I just go find the pillow and I just, like, keep it with me for a couple of minutes until I feel better.

KEILAR: When you first see him, what's kind of the emotion that you see on his face?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's very happy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very happy and excited, and like he's just going to squeeze us so tight.

[16:55:10] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's just going to squeeze us so tight that we feel like our hearts are going to explode.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very emotional because you haven't seen him in a really long time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If he came home from his deployment, I would be very happy. And I can imagine the look on his face.

KEILAR: Is there anything you want to say to your dad?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say to my dad, have a safe trip, like, coming back home. And, like, I love you and, like, I will see you when you get back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say that I miss you and I love you and stay safe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say that I miss him. I hope that he doesn't change too much. Because he said he wants to grow out his beard, and he doesn't really have one yet. So I hope he hasn't changed too much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want to tell him to be safe and that I miss you and that I love him.

KEILAR: What about you? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say that I love you very, very much and

that have a safe trip.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have good luck on everything they are doing. And once you come back, I will just jump on him and almost grab him and he grabs me tight. So I have to say this, daddy, but you grab me tight. It takes it all out of my lungs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Precocious kids. Our thanks to Brianna Keilar, and of course, Happy Father's Day to all dads, military and civilian out there, and thanks so much for being with me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. So much more, straight ahead in the "NEWSROOM" with Ana Cabrera right after this.

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