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Trump's DOJ Secretly Subpoenaed Data from House Democrats, Their Families; Two Passengers on Fully Vaccinated Cruise Test Positive for COVID; Shortage of Childcare Workers Hampering Parents Return to Work. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired June 11, 2021 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:08]

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Jim, I think what we've seen in this story is further evidence of something that's long been evident, which is that Donald Trump corrupted the processes of government as president to his own personal benefit.

Think about other things that we've learned in the last few days. We've had had Don McGahn testify in the House, affirming what he told Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor, that Donald Trump had asked him to fire Mueller and then asked him to lie about it, to try to create a record saying that he didn't do that.

We have heard an audio tape of Rudy Giuliani pressuring a Ukrainian counterpart to try to gin up an investigation of Joe Biden, which is something the president of the United States himself did with the president of Ukraine. That's what got him impeached.

The second thing that I think we've learned is that you can't divorce this from the broader issues within the Republican Party. We've learned in the report that Bill Bar revived a languishing leak investigation that people who had engaged in it fraught was not leading anywhere.

Remember who Bill Barr is. Bill Barr was admonished by a federal judge recently for having misled the court about his reasoning on the Mueller investigation. And Bill Barr himself is somebody who said, as attorney general, that he believe that conservative Christians were under assault by secular forces in the society. That is the mindset of the Republican Party. That is the kind of mindset that led to the insurrection on January 6th, the deadly insurrection, and that House Republicans have decided not to try to have a bipartisan investigation.

So this is about Trump and about how Trump ran his government in a corrupt fashion but also about the felt need of the Republican Party to use brute force in various ways to try to maintain power.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: John Avalon, put this in context for us, because other administrations have investigated leaks before. The Obama administration looked into leaks to journalists as well. But the scope of this is clearly different, 100 accounts belonging to a number of people, we don't how many, but two of them are sitting Democratic lawmakers, very public enemies of the president, family members, staffers who were not even involved with the Intel Committee or the Russia investigation and at least one minor gets swooped up in this kind of dragnet here. Have we ever seen anything like that before?

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: No. And I think it's important for folks to keep in mind the family member part of this as well, because maybe that will make it resonate a little bit more. There will be a temptation to try to normalize this through whataboutism or both-siderism or saying that, well, Obama administration, which they did, used the Espionage Act to pursue leaks.

What Donald Trump's administration did at his behest the way that the Justice Department was politicalized and, frankly, to go after a competing branch of government with these sort of open ended secret investigations, goes well beyond anything we've seen any administration pursue, including the Nixon administration. This was a culture of corruption. And make no mistake, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

And in addition to the information that we need to find out about how far they went at Trump's behest, we also need to look at the fact that one person, a president, was able to convince so many people to abandon the ideals and the integrity of the independence of the Justice Department. That's a larger, deeper danger we need to get to the bottom of. And we need to strengthen some serious guardrails under democracy because it's clear they are broken if one corrupt president can corrupt the independence of the Justice Department.

SCIUTTO: John harwood, I know it's early, there was a gag order, we're learning about this now, but we've been aware of this pattern of behavior by the prior president. You know, my base question is, what does the Biden administration going to do about it? I've heard some frustration from Democrats about the Justice Department under Merrick Garland so far, but this time, what do they do? What is the Biden administration plan?

HARWOOD: Well, I think they're not going to do nearly as much as many Democrats would like to see done, Jim. Remember, the conflicting imperatives facing Joe Biden. Joe Biden is trying to move on. He is trying to have a successful presidency in his own right. He's trying in that process to reach out beyond merely the Democratic Party.

That's why we're seeing these extended negotiations with Republicans over infrastructure even though they don't look especially promising right now. Joe Biden is trying to signal to the country that we can overcome our divisions. And what that tells you to do or where that leads you is not to look back, not to emphasize what was done in the previous administration.

[10:35:01]

Now, there are limits to how far can you sustain that if the heat rises enough but that's the impulse of Joe Biden. I do think that for other authorities, like Cy Vance in New York, Letitia James, the attorney general, Cy Vance is the Manhattan prosecutor, those people that have active ongoing investigations of Donald Trump probably increases pressure on them to be very tough-minded in how they approach those. But in terms of the Biden administration, I think Joe Biden, his dominant impulse here is going to be as much as he can to look forward and not back.

AVLON: Sure. But, Jim, let me just add to that. Partisan Democrats may be upset that the Garland Justice Department is not going far enough fast enough. But to correct the politicization of the Justice Department is not to politicize it further in the other direction.

However, there is absolutely an imperative to learn the lessons of the last administration. And to be mindful that a Boy Scout approach, given how much this process clearly went off track, is not sufficient. Normal is not enough because normal is clearly broken. So there needs to be an investigation and lessons learned and imposed through code in the Justice Department.

SCIUTTO: Because part of the perception, right, is that there are no consequences for this kind of behavior and that certainly seems to be the message Trump himself has taken from it. John Harwood, John Avalon, thanks very much to both of you.

Coming up next, new questions today after two asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 appeared on a cruise ship that had all its passengers fully vaccinated. Our next guest is asking Florida's governor to reconsider a law blocking proof of vaccinations on cruise ships.

But, first, there is lots of news happening today. Here's what to watch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

SCIUTTO: The first major cruise with American passengers since 2020, back before the pandemic, says that two passengers have tested positive for COVID-19. We should note the cruise line did require all passengers to show proof that they were vaccinated prior to boarding. They say that those two who tested positive were asymptomatic.

Meanwhile, the battle over vaccine passports for cruise ships is heating up. The governor of the Virgin Islands, Albert Bryan Jr. is asking Florida Governor DeSantis to reconsider a law blocking cruise ships from requiring proof of vaccination.

Governor Bryan joins me now to talk about all of this. Governor, thank you so much for joining.

GOV. ALBERT BRYAN JR. (D-VI): My pleasure. Thank you for having me, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So, the Virgin Islands, to be clear, you want the cruise ships to come. It's good for business. It's a big part of tourism. Do you believe that Governor DeSantis here is putting politics not just above science but above the business of cruises? BRYAN: I think it's really about the people of the Caribbean and the intense danger that he's exposing us to. And we understand the politics of the state. I'm a governor, just like all others. We have -- we like to make our decisions for our states. But Florida is the gateway to the Caribbean with over $52 billion of trade coming through that port into all of our ports in the Caribbean, whether U.S. Virgin Islands, British, Jamaica or Trinidad.

SCIUTTO: Here's a question for you, because, you know, the cruise industry, tourism is a big part of your economy here. In your view, I'm sure you talk to the cruise lines, hotels, et cetera, would it actually be better for business to require proof of vaccination? In other words, would that give more people comfort, right, and attract more people? Is that what the businesses -- is that how the businesses view this?

BRYAN: Well, it's not only about the cruise traveler and the product that cruise lines are doing, but we have to shut down our entire economy if we have a surge. When you talk about 50,000 people in any one of our islands, just like our Caribbean neighbors, two cruise ships, 6,000 passengers getting off, that's an invasion of increase of population by 10 percent.

To have travelers that were not assured that have been vaccinated or at least PCR tested is traumatic. And when you talk about places like these small islands, they have one hospital, probably 20 to 30 COVID- 19 beds available for our people. We want to make sure that we never are in a situation where we have to turn people away from our hospitals for medical care.

SCIUTTO: Have you heard from Governor DeSantis when you make this argument to him?

BRYAN: We are trying to get a meeting with the governor. He's quite busy, as am I. So we're getting our schedules together to do this. And what we're just trying to do is make him understand that while there -- Florida is a big state. There are 45 million people in the Caribbean who are black and brown that count on him to make sure that these travelers that are coming to our shores keep safe, are vaccinated and do have some responsibility to the countries as well as us as Americans in the Caribbean.

SCIUTTO: Right now, 42.6 percent of the U.S. is fully vaccinated, Virgin Islands, 31.1 percent, neither is half way through, right? Is it safe, in your view, to restart not just the cruise business but opening up a place like the Virgin Islands to tourism?

BRYAN: Well, I think we're a model of that. We're actually about 40 percent of our active population, available population vaccinated.

[10:45:02]

We were the first to open vaccines to everyone in the country. We have a travel portal and we have a thriving tourism business. But we can't say that for the same of our Caribbean brothers and sisters. And when that happened, if they are not doing well, we are not doing well because you can't cruise to one island.

So it is safe to open up. We like to applaud President Biden for his commitment to 500 million vaccines to foreign nations. We hope a lot of that is coming to the Caribbean. We have to hold up the world. Finally, America is emerging again as a world leader by setting the example of what it takes to really set the record straight globally in terms of taking care of business.

SCIUTTO: Well, we know it's important to you to be opening up. A lot of jobs depend in the Virgin Islands on the tourism business. Governor Albert Bryan Jr., we wish you and the Virgin Islands the best.

BRYAN: Thank you, Jim. Have a great day.

SCIUTTO: Well as Americans again to return to in-person work, many parents are hoping to rejoin the workforce but face a new challenge, finding childcare amid worker shortages. We're going to examine reasons behind that shortage, how it complicates reopening efforts and going back to work for some people

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: As the pandemic eases and businesses welcome workers back into the office, many parents hoping to rejoin the workforce are experiencing a big challenge. Big obstacle, a shortage of childcare workers.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Mornings at Wonderspring Early Education in West Philadelphia start with circle time. The infants are fed and sung to. The toddlers play with blocks and toys all under the watchful eye of these child care workers for eight hours a day every day called teachers here.

ZAKIYYAH BOONE, CEO, WONDERSPRING EARLY EDUCATION: They are teachers. They're not just daycare workers. We're not caring for days, we're caring for children.

YURKEVICH: But child care workers, 98 percent women and almost half people of color, are paid poverty level wages to watch, care for, and teach America's youngest, earning a median salary of about $24,000. And now there's a shortage of people for this critical work.

BOONE: Finding teachers today is quite a challenge.

YURKEVICH: These classrooms at one of Wonderspring centers sit empty because 30 percent of their positions are open, just above national numbers showing a nearly 20 percent loss in the child care workforce since the pandemic.

BOONE: I can't just sell more toilet paper in order to earn more money to pay my teachers more. I also can't just randomly charge the families 25, 30, 40 percent more in tuition. I have to be able to have funding to do that.

YURKEVICH: The American rescue plan allotted $39 billion for child care centers, but more money is needed. Both the American families plan and infrastructure bill would provide billions to these centers.

LEA J.E. AUSTIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF CHILD CARE EMPLOYMENT AT U.C. BERKELEY: Public funding is the answer to ensure affordable or free access to early education for families and to ensure livable wages for the early care education workforce.

YURKEVICH: The livable wages and less of a burden of cost on parents.

TOMIA MITCHELL-HAAS, WAITLISTED FOR CHILD CARE: I was quoted around $4,300, which is actually not the same price as my rent but more than my rent.

YURKEVICH: And that's if parents can even find a child care center with openings. Wonderspring has a wait list of 100 families.

MITCHELL-HAAS: Don't get too deep.

YURKEVICH: In Los Angeles, Tomia Mitchell-Haas has spent months looking for child care for her two-year-old Ari and four-year-old Cy.

MITCHELL-HAAS: I'm on a couple of waitlists. I felt like no one thought of what this is doing to a single mom who has to work as well.

YURKEVICH: She is a teacher herself working from home throughout the pandemic. She takes turns watching her toddlers with her 13-year-old daughter, Ayanna, until spots open up.

MITCHELL-HAAS: We want them to be learning. We want them to be happy. We want them to be safe. Why should that be something that's so difficult to obtain? It shouldn't.

YURKEVICH: Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: That's an experience we're hearing so much across the country. Vanessa Yurkevich, thanks so much.

Well, a stunning report about President Trump's Justice Department targeting Democratic lawmakers, their family members, even a minor, it's a developing story involving allegations of abuse of power. The latest just ahead. We'll be right back.

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[10:55:00]

SCIUTTO: Today's CNN Hero David Flink was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia at the age of 11 and he struggled throughout school. Now, as an adult, he is using his nonprofit called Eye to Eye to make sure that children like him don't fall through the cracks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID FLINK, CNN HERO: Eye to Eye provides a safe space that is constructed around what is right with kids so they can talk about their experiences.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you get scared during tests or like nervous or no?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have anxiety, and like I shake a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, that happens to me sometimes.

FLINK: People's hearts sing when they're seen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my shield.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My masterpiece, really cool.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like how you use duct tape as a handle.

FLINK: My moment that I am wishing for is when the problem of stigmatizing kids because they learn different lingos away (ph), I want them to know that they're brains are beautiful. I want them feeling like they know how to ask for what they need and that they can do it. And that's what we give them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Such an inspiring story and so many children in need. To learn David's whole story, see the magic that happens when children are seen and understood. You can learn more. Go to cnnheroes.com right now.

And while you're there, remember, nominate whomever you think should be a CNN hero this year. There are lots of great candidates out there. And the stories as you see them up close, they're moving.

[11:00:00]

Thanks so much for joining me today on this busy news Friday, next week even more. I'm Jim Sciutto. I hope you have a great weekend.