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Numbers Show Biden's Coronavirus Plan is Working in U.S.; Netanyahu Rivals Strike Deal to Oust Him from Power; Body Camera Video Shows Child Runaways Opening Fire on Deputies; Ex-Aide: Trump Listening to Conspiracy Theories. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired June 03, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar alongside John Berman on this NEW DAY. President Biden's coronavirus plan is working. The new numbers, the new incentives and how he plans to hit his vaccination goal by July 4th.

[05:59:42]

In the meantime, his predecessor is trying to convince his followers that he'll be reinstated as president this summer. It's nonsense, but it's sparking fears of more violence.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, on the ropes. Israel's prime minister closer and closer to being ousted by a team of rivals. A previously unthinkable alliance could take away Benjamin Netanyahu's power.

And --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: How the hell do we have you become our mayor?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Colder than a New York Knicks playoff run. See what happened when the candidates for mayor squared off in a major debate.

KEILAR: A very good morning to viewers here in the United States and around the world. It is Thursday, June 3. We are almost to Friday, not quite.

And this morning, the Biden administration and the American people have actually a lot to celebrate in the fight against coronavirus. For the first time in 14 months, the United States is averaging fewer than 20,000 new cases a day. Hospitalizations are also at the lowest point in more than a year, and they're declining steadily as more and more people are getting vaccinated.

BERMAN: But the rate -- the rate of vaccinations is slowing. The U.S. is now averaging about 1.1 million doses per day. That's less than a third of the peak that was in mid-April. That's why President Biden is launching a renewed push to get 70 percent of American adults vaccinated with at least one dose by July 4th.

Joining me now by CNN senior politics writer and analyst Harry Enten. Harry, I want to look behind the numbers here, just to show people, really, how good things are right now.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER AND ANALYST: Things are much better than they were. I mean, here, take a look here. This is coronavirus cases, new cases in the past week, versus the previous week.

Look at all this green on the screen. That means new cases are down. The only red is out here in the west. Part of the reason California is a little bit red is because they were so, so low that any increase, basically, puts you in the red. But overall, a very solid picture.

BERMAN: Green just about everywhere. What about daily deaths?

ENTEN: Yes. Here's another thing. Look at this. Daily deaths. We were at this peak. Look at that. Back in January, beginning part of the year. Look, this drop all the way down here now, down to the less than 0.2 deaths per 100,000 residents. So again, good news on the coronavirus.

BERMAN: Good news and dropping even further.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: The direction it's been.

All right. Vaccinations. Where exactly do we stand right now?

ENTEN: So here's exactly where we stand. Share of the population with at least one vaccine dose. All Americans north of that 50 percent mark. Again, good news. Adults nearing 63 percent.

So, again, we're higher than we were, but perhaps, as you were pointing out, lower.

BERMAN: So we're just at about 63 percent now. What's the date today? Is today the 3rd? It is June 3rd.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: So President Biden wants to be at 70 percent on this number by July 4th. Are we on pace to hit that?

ENTEN: No, not if we continue the rate that we saw over the last week. So basically, if we continue having new vaccinations, new people getting their first doses at the same rate we did over the last week, where will we be on July 4th? Sixty-eight percent of the adult population.

And what's really going on here is the vaccine rate is slowing. So if we're able to boost that vaccination rate, new vaccines go up to, say, where we were at the weekly rate two weeks ago instead of where we were last week? We will hit that 70 percent mark. Same with three weeks ago. So we need to boost the number of new people getting vaccinated.

BERMAN: This is interesting, though. If we continue what we're doing right now, we won't get there.

ENTEN: That's right.

BERMAN: We were on pace two weeks ago and three weeks ago, but something happened in the last week where it slowed down. So who do we need to reach in order to get to 70 percent?

ENTEN: So basically, if you look at the last month's Kaiser Family Foundation poll, adults getting one dose, at that point it was 62 percent who said they had at least one dose.

We need to add in those who said they will get their first vaccine as soon as possible. That jumps us to 66 percent. But then the wait-and- see group who said we will get one the next three months. That's an additional 4 percent. If we add all those groups together, we will hit 70 percent, but it will be getting those people who are just on the side of, Oh, I'm not sure I'm necessarily going to get one. If we can get those folks, that's our best shot at getting to 70 percent.

BERMAN: They said they'd get it in the next three months. Basically, the administration needs to say, get it now.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: Don't wait three months. Get it in the next month.

ENTEN: That's exactly right. If Biden wants to reach his goal, get those folks.

BERMAN: All right. Harry Enten, great to see you. Thank you so much for those numbers.

How do you get those folks? Beer -- beer to the rescue. President Biden is rolling out a list of private sector partnerships to convince vaccine skeptics were people who are a little bit slower to get the vaccine, to do it and to do it now. Beer is one way.

Christine Romans joins us now to explain.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Free stuff. Americans love free stuff. These are the incentives being offered here, the White House unveiling all kinds of perks to get to that goal of 70 percent of Americans by July 4 vaccinated.

Here's what the president said getting to the 70 percent would mean for this country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America is headed into the summer dramatically different from last year's summer. A summer of freedom, a summer of joy, a summer of joy, a summer of get-togethers and celebrations. An all-American summer that this country deserves. (END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:05:03]

ROMANS: That's right. Vaccines are the gateway drug to getting back to normal, to the great American summer. The White House calling the effort the month of action to push people who might be hesitant to get that vaccine or having trouble accessing the vaccine.

So go for a haircut at a black-owned barber ship [SIC] -- barbershop to get the vaccine. There are others like free day care. While you get your shot, four of the largest childcare centers in the country, they'll watch your kids.

Free rides to the vaccine. They're keeping pharmacies open later on Friday night so people have access to an appointment at all hours.

Tax credits for giving your employees time off to get the shot or recover from it.

And yes, John, free beer to the rescue. Anheuser-Busch said it will buy America's next round of beer if it hits that 70 percent -- 70 percent goal. In New Jersey, it's a shot and a beer. A shot and beer. Get it? Shot and -- shot and beer.

BERMAN: I just kept hearing beer. No matter what you said, I kept hearing beer.

KEILAR: I wonder. It's a different strategy, though. You know, we did have this big moment where it was big mass vaccination centers. Now -- now they're micro-targeting the hesitant or the people who can't get there.

BERMAN: They've got to go out and reach every person who thinks they might do it at some point. They've got to do it now. That's what the Biden administration is doing.

Christine Romans, thank you so much. Cheers, as it were -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Israel's longest serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is just one step away from being ousted.

Overnight, Israeli opposition parties striking a coalition deal to form a new government. This is an extraordinary coalition, paving the way for Netanyahu's exit.

CNN's Hadas Gold is live for us in Jerusalem.

This is something to behold, Hadas. Explain to us what happened here.

HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, it definitely is history in the making. Last night with 38 minutes before that midnight -- midnight deadline, the centrist leader Yair Lapid was able to inform the Israeli president that he had managed to form a coalition that could oust Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel's longest serving prime minister. Under the terms of this coalition deal, it will actually be the leader

of a small right-wing party -- his name is Naftali Bennett -- who would serve as the first prime minister as part of a rotating deal.

Then Yair Lapid would take over after Naftali Bennett's serving as prime minister.

But as you noted, this coalition is made up of a wide swath of political parties, from the far left, through the centrist, to the right. And, in a first in Israeli history, an Arab Israeli party, the United Arab List, has signed on as part of the coalition. That goes just to show you who is all sitting together in this party. An Arab Israeli party with a right-wing -- with a right-wing party, with a left-wing party.

Now, not much unites this coalition, other than they want to see the back of Benjamin Netanyahu leaving the prime minister's house. So it might be a fragile government to begin with.

In a statement, the centrist leader, Yair Lapid, said that, "The government will work to serve all the citizens of Israel, including those who aren't members of it. We'll respect those who oppose it and do everything in its power to unite all parts of Israeli society."

But despite the fact that they have managed to form this coalition, it is not over yet, because this new government needs to pass a vote of confidence in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. That will happen on or before Monday, June 14. That leaves a lot of time for Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies to try to cause his coalition to crumble by getting members of parliament to defect, to not vote for the government.

And he's already trying to do this; he's already starting this campaign. In a tweet just about an hour ago, he said that all right- wing Knesset members must oppose this dangerous left-wing government. So we could be seeing the beginning of the end of Benjamin Netanyahu, but it's not over yet -- Brianna.

KEILAR: We will see. He doesn't have to twist but an arm, so we'll see where that goes. Hadas Gold, thank you so much, live for us from Jerusalem.

Let's check in now with the former member, the U.S. Middle East peace envoy who served under five presidential administrations, Ambassador Dennis Ross.

Ambassador, it's wonderful to talk to you this morning. You are really the person to tell us what you think about what is happening. This is an extraordinary partnership of folks who are united against a political enemy but really not much else. What's your reaction to this?

DENNIS ROSS, FORMER U.S. MIDDLE EAST PEACE ENVOY: Well, I think it's actually extraordinary. You used the right word. It is extraordinary. It's not just that they're united solely against Benjamin Netanyahu. I think there's something else going on. I think there's genuinely a view that Israel's institutions were under assault, that the rule of law was under assault, that in a sense, rather than having a rule of the government for the people and by the people, it was increasingly a one-person, one-man rule.

So what you see that unites this extraordinary coalition, from left to right, including an Israeli Arab party for the first time, is also a sense that something was very significantly at stake in Israel, and that was really the future of its institutions. I think that may be one of the driving forces here.

Of course, opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu unites them, but there is this deeper sense that something more profound was at stake. And I think that also helps to explain why we're seeing what we're seeing.

[06:10:08]

KEILAR: Yes, and look, that's a pattern that many Americans are familiar with. We saw some interesting strange bedfellows in our last election, as well.

As you are looking at this narrow, narrow margin here, and Benjamin Netanyahu is already, as Hadas said, trying to twist arms, can he blow up this coalition?

ROSS: Well, there's a potential. I mean, one at this point can't say he couldn't, because there could be some additional defections.

But understand, he has been making an effort to produce defections for a long time. Naftali Bennett had said he would join the Netanyahu government if Netanyahu could put a government together, and Netanyahu was saying for some period of time he would get defections from one of the right-wing parties, the New Hope Party, for example, the Gideon Sa'ar party. And yet there were no such defections.

So is there a potential for him to get defections? Yes. But there's also the potential that the Joint List, which is the other Arab party, which is not part of this coalition, which did not sign on, it's also quite possible, if there is a defection or two that Netanyahu is able to produce, it's also possible that members from that Joint List will decide that they will either vote for the government or they will abstain, which would help ensure that that new government is allowed to seat itself or be seated.

KEILAR: So Naftali Bennett, who would serve under this arrangement as prime minister for the first two years, was not exactly a calming influence, you could say, during the recent war with Palestinians. How -- what does that bode for, you know, what we are expecting to see at a very sensitive time?

ROSS: It's exactly the right question to ask, but, again, I think when we take a step back, it's also worth noting that, while Naftali Bennett obviously comes from the right -- his party, Yamina, means literally, "on the right" -- it is interesting if you look at what he has been saying. His language and Yair Lapid's language are mirror images. They keep saying that, Look, we -- we can no longer treat our citizens

s if they're enemies, call those who disagree with us traitors. We have to change the civil discourse here. We have to change the political discourse here. We have to treat Israelis as if we're all one people.

I mean, it's -- the language sounds remarkably like what we heard from Joe Biden, and that's coming from Naftali Bennett.

So what they've agreed on is there are basic issues not only at stake, but there's also a number of things that they will operate on as a government. They will pass a budget. There has been no budget for the last two years, which has all sorts of implications for how agencies, including defense ministry can plan.

They haven't been able to make appointments, so the whole personnel system has been frozen. So they will pass a budget.

They're emphasizing the importance of a new infrastructure. And indeed, part of the deal here includes infrastructure for Arab towns and villages, something that has been overdone, something that has clearly -- Mansour Abbas, who is the leader of the Ra'am Party, made a condition for him being prepared to join it.

So what we're seeing is that there are issues that are profoundly important for all Israelis that they feel they can address.

Obviously, this new government will -- at some point, it's going to have to find a way to deal with the Palestinians. What we saw in the recent conflict is the Palestinian issue can't be ignored.

But here again, the fact that you have a government that realizes they're going to have to deal with internal stresses, they're going to have to deal with issues, even divisive issues, may not produce an immediate decision, but it may well produce a serious discussion on what should the policy be towards the Palestinians.

Really, if you look at the last several years, there really hasn't been a policy within the Netanyahu government. It was, we'll deal with the Arabs -- meaning on the outside -- but we won't necessarily deal with the Palestinians as it relates to our next-door neighbor.

KEILAR: Well, it is an extraordinary time, as we say, watching what is happening in Israel. And Ambassador Ross, we are so thankful to have your voice on this.

ROSS: Thanks for having me.

KEILAR: Next, some chilling new video of the moments when child runaways opened fire on deputies, which sparked the sheriff to ask, where have we gone wrong?

BERMAN: Plus, does one of the first guilty pleas in the insurrection forecast how long rioters may have to spend behind bars?

And highlights of the fiery debate between mayoral candidates in New York City.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAMS: How the hell do we have you become our mayor?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:19:07]

BERMAN: This morning, brand-new body camera video released of a shooting that left a 14-year-old girl in the hospital. Deputies say the girl and 12-year-old boy broke into a house after running away from a juvenile home and used weapons they found inside to fire at deputies.

CNN's Leyla Santiago, live in Deltona, Florida, near the house where the shoot-out took place. What's on this video, Leyla?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, I can tell you this morning there is still a deputy parked outside the home. And what this new video shows us is how this went down from the deputy's perspective, from having to hide behind a tree when fired upon to their attempts to de-escalate the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. Stand by.

SANTIAGO (voice-over): This police body camera footage shows a disturbing scene in central Florida Tuesday night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The juvenile male looks like he has something in his hand, as well. They're back to back. Sliding glass door on my side, which would be facing the tree.

(GUNFIRE)

[06:20:11]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shooting out the rear window in my direction. Stand by.

(GUNFIRE)

SANTIAGO: The Volusia County sheriff releasing an edited compilation of the standoff he says started after a 14-year-old girl and a 12- year-old boy ran away from a children's group home.

SHERIFF MIKE CHITWOOD, VOLUSIA COUNTY, FLORIDA: The call was that a 12-year-old, who is a diabetic and needs medication every four hours or so, had walked off-campus with the 14-year-old.

SANTIAGO: According to the sheriff, the teens broke into this house and allegedly used an AK-47 and shotgun discovered inside to open fire on officers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The female has a shotgun in her hands. Stand by.

Put the gun down now!

SANTIAGO: Deputies working to de-escalate the situation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not sure if they're going to come to the front door or not. Stand by.

Don't make me do this. Don't do this.

They look like they're going to try to come out, and I will challenge.

Hands in the air now!

SANTIAGO: But after about 35 minutes, police say the teenaged girl, who was armed with a gun, threatened to kill a deputy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand by. Shots fired at me again. Juvenile male fired that round.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand by. She's got the AK and the shotgun. She's wrapping it around the top of her neck.

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gunfire! God damn!

Shots fired again. Female now has a pistol. Juvenile now has a long gun. So does the female. Stand by.

SANTIAGO: The teenage girl was reportedly shot multiple times by deputies and was in critical but stable condition, and the boy taken into custody uninjured, speaking to authorities about the situation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we questioned him when it's all over, he tells investigators that the female made a statement that, I'm going to roll this down like GTA, Grand Theft Auto, and she started firing multiple times at deputies outside the residence. They knew it was law enforcement, he said, and they were shooting to cause harm to law enforcement.

SANTIAGO: No deputies were hurt in the incident and an investigation is now under way.

CHITWOOD: Nobody comes to work to shoot and kill anybody. We certainly don't come to work to get into gunfights with 12- to 14-year-olds.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANTIAGO: You know, John, the sheriff was very critical of the juvenile justice system. We did reach out to the home where these two children lived. And in a

statement they said to CNN that they plan to stop the emergency care shelter program and admitted to being overwhelmed, saying that they also believe the situation was, quote, "the result of a system failing our children" -- John.

BERMAN: That's terrifying, Leyla. I mean, the weaponry involved there, the duration, the length of time it went on for. Terrifying.

SANTIAGO: Right.

BERMAN: Thank you so much for your report.

The former president of the United States, listing conspiracies from the, quote, "bottom of the bottom of the crazies in the barrel." That's according to a former aide. More of CNN's brand-new reporting next.

KEILAR: Plus, how are QAnon followers responding to Trump's delusional claim that he'll be reinstated this summer? We'll talk to an analyst who predicted the January 6th insurrection.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This morning, brand-new reporting that the former president is said to be singularly obsessed with the false notion that the election was stolen from him.

A former aide told CNN's Dana Bash that Trump is listening to, quote, "the bottom of the bottom of the crazies in the barrel" about election conspiracies. It comes as Trump has reportedly been telling people he's going to be reinstated as president this summer, which is a delusional plan.

The question is how is this claim being received by folks who follow QAnon, by folks susceptible to these conspiracy theories?

Joining me now is Arieh Kovler. He's a political consultant and independent researcher who studies and monitors extremist chatter. And just do people know the kinds of thing he has predicted in the past, on December 21, Arieh, you wrote, on January 6, armed Trumpist militias will be rallying in D.C. at Trump's orders. It's highly likely that they'll try to storm the Capitol after it certifies Joe Biden's win.

So you have a knack for seeing things online and raising questions about them. So what are you seeing online? The president as we reported, Maggie Haberman yesterday saying he believes he'll be reinstated as president by August, which is crazy, but what are people online saying about that?

ARIEH KOVLER, POLITICAL CONSULTANT, INDEPENDENT RESEARCHER: So there's two slightly different things. On the specifics of Trump's claim, inside the world of QAnon and even the broader pro-Trump MAGA movement, they're not paying much attention, because they don't believe anything that comes out of what they would call the lying liberal media.

So if Trump himself had said that in his own words, I think you'd be seeing them going absolutely insane in support of it. Because it was Maggie Haberman, someone who they really have a very deep dislike for, they're not responding specifically to the August claim.

All that said, they're extremely excited right now, particularly around what we're seeing in Maricopa County and rumors of audits in other states. And that these audits will perhaps at some point in the summer, or there afterwards, provide a power transfer to Trump.