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WV Democratic Senator Joe Manchin Will Not Amend Senate Filibuster to Pass Voting Rights Bill; Music Played at Former President Trump's Rally Examined; GOP's Brooks Served with Lawsuit after Game of Hide and Seek; Five Mass Shootings over the Weekend as Nation Gets Number to Violence; Interview with Miami-Dade County, Florida Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. Aired 8-8:30a ET
Aired June 07, 2021 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: On this NEW DAY, Mr. No, or Senator No, Joe Manchin, no on ditching the filibuster, and now no on a voting rights bill. Just ahead, why fellow Democrats maybe should not be mad at him.
Plus, Stormy Daniels not going quietly. What role she could play in the criminal investigation into Donald Trump. She joins live in just minutes.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And new controversy as a congressman getting sued over the insurrection finally gets served after weeks of playing hard to get. The lawyer leading the suit joins us in a CNN exclusive.
And the Trump rally soundtrack, a closer look at the tunes that team cranks begs the question, did they ever really listen to the lyrics?
BERMAN: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Monday, June 7th. And if Democrats were hoping to pass a voting rights bill or end the legislative filibuster, Joe Manchin just tossed a giant monkey wrench into their plans.
KEILAR: The Democratic senator from West Virginia announcing that he will not support either, an enormous setback for his party and the president. Manchin claims the debate about how to best protect the American right to vote and hold elections has become too partisan.
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KEILAR (voice-over): Senator Joe Manchin announced he will vote against the For the People Act, essentially closing the door on Democrats' push for large scale voting rights reform on Capitol Hill. Manchin defended his decision in an op-ed writing in the "Charleston Gazette Mail," writing "Voting and election reform that is done in a partisan manner will all but ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen."
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): I think it's the wrong piece of legislation to bring our country together and unite our country, and I'm not supporting that because I think it would divide us further. I don't want to be in a country that's divided any further than I'm in right now. I love my country, and I think my Democrat, Republican colleagues feel the same.
KEILAR: Fellow Democrats like Congresswoman Barbara Lee pushed back.
REP. BARBARA LEE (D-CA): I hope he reconsiders what his position is, because this is not about partisan advantage. This is fundamental to our democracy.
KEILAR: The West Virginia senator is the only Democrat who isn't a co-sponsor of the bill, which the party says will help stop new restrictions on voting imposed by several Republican-led state legislators. Moves condemned by President Biden who asked Congress to prioritize the protection of voting rights.
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to fight like heck with every tool at my disposal for its passage.
KEILAR: And while Manchin says he supports the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, a far less sweeping bill than the For the People Act, he once again emphasized his refusal to end the filibuster, a Senate rule which requires a 60 vote threshold to advance most legislation, writing "I believe that partisan legislation will destroy the already weakening binds of our democracy." But many Democrats, like independent Senator Angus King, say this could be worth changing the filibuster.
SEN. ANGUS KING (I-ME): If it comes down to voting rights and the rights of Americans to go to the polls and select their leaders versus the filibuster, I'll choose democracy.
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KEILAR (on camera): But, of course, the thing, Berman -- I was going to say the thing, of course, with the filibuster is they need Joe Manchin if they're going to get rid of it, and therein lies the rub.
BERMAN: It really does. Look, we had Congressman Jamaal Bowman on just a few minutes ago, progressive from New York, and he's pissed off. He said that Joe Manchin is the new Mitch McConnell. He said Joe Manchin is standing in the way of democracy. And that view is held by a number of Democrats, progressive Democrats, but is it justified?
Harry Enten is with us, CNN senior political writer and analyst. And Harry, here is the question about Joe Manchin. If not Joe Joe Manchin, who then in West Virginia? What could Democrats reasonably expect if Manchin was not senator there?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER AND ANALYST: A Republican, that's what they can expect. Take a look, these are some West Virginia political facts. Look at this, Biden's 2020 West Virginia vote share just 30 percent. In the entire Congress, how many Democrats are in Congress where Biden won by less than 40 besides Joe Manchin? Zero. Zero, zero, zero. This is 10 points higher, Biden's vote share 10 percent higher, you have to get 10 points higher to get anywhere near another Democrat in the entire Congress, House or Senate. And look at this. Just to give you an idea of how often Joe Manchin votes with the Democrats, he voted with Trump 50 percent of the time. If he was replaced with ah Republican, the average GOP representative from West Virginia in the Congress voted with Trump 92 percent of the time. So you're not getting everything you want with Joe Manchin, but you're getting a lot more than you would with a Republican who would probably replace Manchin if he were not the Senator.
BERMAN: Almost definitely. It's quite possible that Joe Manchin may be the only Democrat who could be a Senator from West Virginia right now. If you didn't have him, you wouldn't have the Senate majority at all. That's what Democrats have to grapple with.
[08:05:04]
ENTEN: That's correct.
BERMAN: The issue of the filibuster, what do polls say about how Americans feel about that in general?
ENTEN: There's a lot of polling that says a lot of different things. I don't think Americans' viewpoints are that -- they're still wrapping their heads around it, right. It's sort of an abstract concept. But here's one example. Should the Senate filibuster threshold be kept at 60 votes, raised above 60, votes lowered below 60 votes? Kept at 60 votes is the plurality choice overall, 46 percent. There is actually an additional 16 percent who says it should be higher. It should be higher than 60 votes. So overall, Americans tend to like the idea of that 60-vote threshold or perhaps higher.
Even among Democrats, it's just 55 percent who say that the threshold should be lowered below 60 votes. So Joe Manchin is not necessarily alone on this particular issue even among Democrats.
BERMAN: He's not in the majority of Democrats, but he's not on an island here.
What about the issue of voting rights when it comes to the filibuster?
ENTEN: So, again, I was basically trying to say it's an abstract concept, let's look at something more specific, right? Should the filibuster be used to stop a bill on voting rights? The public here is split -- 46 percent support, 46 percent opposed. Democrats, again, more opposition there, 61 percent say it should not be used. But again, here, look at this, a substantial minority, 32 percent of Democrats say that they actually support the idea that a filibuster can be used to stop a bill on voting rights.
BERMAN: Again, Manchin not on a complete island here, not with a majority. And literally there are other Democratic senators who may have similar issues with Manchin.
ENTEN: They make Joe Manchin to be out the boogieman, right. And I think part of the reason he's made out to be the boogeyman is because it's actually good for his political brand. But there are actually some other Democrats who are at least skeptical of the idea of getting rid of the filibuster at the 60-vote threshold. Look at this. You have Kyrsten Sinema, right. And then you have Maggie Hassan from New Hampshire, and then Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire. And look at these Biden vote shares in those states. These are all purple states, Biden getting basically between 49 percent and 53 percent.
So what we're really seeing is that Joe Manchin is essentially being the front man for these other Democratic senators who are really sort of skeptical of it, but he's like, you know what, I'll put myself out there because it's good for my political brand. But he's really not alone, at least at this particular point.
BERMAN: Important perspective to be part of this discussion. Harry Enten, thanks very much.
ENTEN: Thank you.
BERMAN: Brianna?
KEILAR: We haven't mentioned the President Trump's rally that he had over the weekend much this morning on the program, and frankly, that's because it was full of lies, conspiracy theories, old grievances, and it contains rhetoric that could incite another insurrection. But not only did his event bring back his oratorical hits, he also brought back the musical ones. And like Alanis, they're more ironic than ever.
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KEILAR: So that's something that a majority of Americans, Berman, as you know, told him that the majority of Republican lawmakers still can't.
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BERMAN: This is really the playlist. First of all, this song is from the Broadway musical "Cats" which I just feel like is worth noting. Also, it's being song by the so-called glamour cat, who is going through some tough times, lonely, seeking acceptance, and is now only a shell of who she used to be. Sound familiar?
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KEILAR: So that, right, this would be a song about looking back, bending to nostalgia. It's actually sometimes played at funerals.
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BERMAN: A song referencing a lunatic stuck inside someone's head.
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(MUSIC)
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KEILAR: So melancholy, a tune that references loss and looks back. And actually, Elvis covered his famous divorce.
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BERMAN: This one is mystifying why Trump, whose bone spurs got him out of the draft, enjoys the anthem of the Vietnam War, considering it's about wealthy people using their power to avoid serving. And the guy who wrote this song agrees.
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JOHN FOGERTY, MUSICIAN: I find it confusing, I would say, that the president has chosen to use my song for his political rallies when, in fact, it seemed like he is probably the fortunate son.
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[08:10:10]
KEILAR: She also said, quote, and I am not making this up because we all know this song, "Be careful of what you do because the lie becomes the truth."
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(MUSIC)
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BERMAN: Lies, you say? Also, interesting because that's a song with the lyric "It's all been a pack of lies." Meantime, there are three songs on the playlist with similar messaging. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
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KEILAR: Consistent, at least.
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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I don't want to sound too much like a chauvinist, but I come home and dinner is not ready, I go through the roof.
(MUSIC)
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BERMAN: This one references voices in your head. Think about that for a moment. Also, it was played to rev up the Trump family at the rally before the insurrection. And the estate of Laura Branigan tweeted at me about how upset they were that it was being used.
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KEILAR: The answer, unfortunately, is both, yes. The producer of "Bohemian Rhapsody" once described the making of this song, quote, "Bohemian Rhapsody" was totally insane, but we enjoyed every minute of it. It was basically a joke, but a successful joke." And he went on, quote, "And it just got bigger and bigger. We never stopped laughing. It started off as a ballad, but the end was heavy."
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BERMAN: So this is the theme song for a sinking ship, OK? And it's also clear that if he didn't pay his way onto one of the early lifeboats, Trump is probably Rose here staring at his party in the water, even though there was enough room on that board for more people.
KEILAR: Debatable, but nonetheless.
BERMAN: There was enough room.
KEILAR: OK. OK, Berman. But the lesson here, right, the lesson aside from, yes, you don't want to be Leonardo DiCaprio in this equation, is that if you rock the same soundtrack for the sequel, it all just becomes white noise. BERMAN: It's the actual soundtrack. That's the playlist, right?
KEILAR: Some of those songs are good. I know you and I, we disagree on Phil Collins, we disagree on Genesis, you and I do. But the songs are good. The irony is incredible. It's almost as if someone scripted this.
BERMAN: Like I said, it writes itself. And thank you to Laura Branigan and her estate.
KEILAR: Yes.
Republican Congressman Mo Brooks was finally served with a lawsuit filed by California Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell, and it accuses him of being partially responsible for the January 6th Capitol riot. Swalwell's legal team had difficulty in tracking Brooks down that they actually hired private investigators and got a deadline extension last week for serving Brooks. But now Brooks is accusing Swalwell's team of breaking the law in doing so.
And joining us now is Phil Andonian. He is the attorney for Congressman Eric Swalwell. OK, first, tell us, how did this, and this is important, very important here, how did this all go down?
PHIL ANDONIAN, ATTORNEY FOR REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): Thanks for having me.
KEILAR: Of course.
ANDONIAN: So here's what I'll say, because Mo Brooks is making it clear he's challenging this and he's flinging accusations around. I want to make it clear that the process server did not go into Brooks' home, and the Brooks know that. But what I will say after months of trying to find this guy who had every opportunity to not allow it come to this, we finally were able to serve his wife in his house. It's clear Mo Brooks is not happy about being served. It's clear he's not happy that his wife was served for him. But that's how it happened.
I want to note that the context here matters. On Friday, a different process server left a note on their front door saying they had papers to deliver, and that they asked for a callback. Yesterday morning a different process server who was successful was in the front of the house in the morning and actually saw Mrs. Brooks driving by twice, apparently spotting him, even parking at the dead end of their street watching, and waiting, and then took off for a few hours. And she came back when she obviously thought the coast was clear, and that's when he was able to serve her. It was a lawful service, and Mo Brooks is now in the case.
KEILAR: Was it on the property? Was on the sidewalk? Where did this happen?
ANDONIAN: I don't want to get into to many details, again, because Mo Brooks has made it clear that --
[08:15:00] KEILAR: He is going to challenge this. So let me ask you this,
because he tweeted, he said he was sending experts home security video to seek an arrest warrant and said -- and he talks about the aide's video is proof. So did the process server had video? I mean, should this all be cleared up?
ANDONIAN: Well, if Mo Brooks wants to make this an issue and he feels he has evidence that supports a crime was committed, and there was no crime, then, I assume he is going to file papers and we would be happy to respond to them in court.
Again, what I will say is Mo Brooks has made a pointed accusation that the process server went into their house. That did not happen. And Mrs. Brooks was lawfully served with the paperwork. Mo brooks is now lawfully served and we look forward to him joining the other defendants in the suit.
KEILAR: Okay, so this lawsuit against a number of folks, but Mo Brooks has to do with his pretty intense involvement when it comes to the rally that preceded the January 6th insurrection. He spoke to the crowd.
So, I mean, that is really the thing here, the lawsuit. So, let's talk about that. What's next in the lawsuit now that the Congressman has been served?
ANDONIAN: So, because he didn't waive service like the other defendants did, he now has only 21 days to respond to the complaint and we look forward to getting that document and whatever it is, and he is in it just like the others are.
He'll make whatever arguments he is going to make, but again, we are confident that Mo Brooks's speech at the rally in which he implored people to kick ass, take names and alluded to people dying for former President Trump, we fully anticipate those claims are going to go forward and we are looking forward -- we look forward to holding him accountable for his role in this deadly insurrection.
KEILAR: Why do you think he was trying to avoid service?
ANDONIAN: If I were a betting person, it's because Mo Brooks had a lot to say when he was standing in front of a pro-Trump crowd pumping them up to go storm the Capitol and when it became clear that there are legal consequences for that, he wasn't interested in being a part of it.
KEILAR: Again, avoiding service doesn't get you out of the problem, though?
ANDONIAN: Right, because you can only run so far. And you know, despite Mo Brooks Twitter throwing Congressman Swalwell for the last few days, you know, chiding him for not being able to find him, this is a serious matter and eventually, the papers are going to be served and Mo Brooks is now in the case.
KEILAR: All right, Phil, great to see you. Thank you so much. ANDONIAN: Thanks. Good to see you, too.
KEILAR: Up next, one community's emergency plan to combat gun violence and it is already off to a rough start.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, Stormy Daniels speaking out right here on NEW DAY. Her reaction to the filing in favor of Donald Trump in her case.
And the brand new Royal baby, an American girl. Can she help heal the rift in the Royal family?
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[08:21:35]
BERMAN: Four people were killed, 25 injured in at least five mass shootings across the country this weekend. We saw gun violence in New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Indianapolis, Fruitport, Michigan; St. Louis; Moore, North Carolina and in Chicago.
In Minnesota, a 14-year-old died after being shot at a graduation party.
KEILAR: And there was also another shooting in Miami where at least one person was killed and two were injured.
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FREDDY RAMIREZ, MIAMI-DADE POLICE DIRECTOR: It just goes to show the magnitude of this gun violence issue. It doesn't just affect community members, it affects the law enforcement community.
We all have to band together. This -- this violence has to stop. This is extremely frustrating. Every weekend is the same thing, and we've just got to band together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Joining me now is Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade County, which suffered two major gun violence attacks here just in the span of one week.
Mayor, thank you for joining us this morning. I want to ask you about news we just got of a shooting in Miami-Dade that occurred overnight. At least two people are dead including a 15-year-old boy. This happened early this morning. What can you tell us?
MAYOR DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA (D), MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA: These tragic incidents happen in homes, they happen on the street, they happen in public places. It just has to stop.
We just need to move forward with commonsense gun reforms that put -- you know, make sure that criminals don't have guns, to make sure that our police have the capacity and to make sure we make investments in a future for these younger people. KEILAR: What's happening here? What's causing this? Why is there this
uptick in deadly shootings that you're seeing?
CAVA: This is a national phenomenon as we're emerging from the pandemic. We are seeing an increase in gunshots, gun murders all across the country. Unfortunately, we've not been spared.
Our records have been better than in some major cities, and now, we are banded together. We have Operation Summer Heat. We are sparing nothing to bring together all of our law enforcement agencies and our community as well to make sure that we identify possible places for violence, that we crack down and find the shooters, bring them to justice and send the message.
Look, for these public acts, it is a few bad actors and we are pursuing them 24/7 with the support of our state, local and Federal agents.
KEILAR: Tell us about this Operation Summer Heat. You rolled it out on Friday. We've seen two more shootings including this mass shooting overnight. What are you doing?
CAVA: We are increasing surveillance in high crime areas. We are adding crime analysts and license plate readers, shot spotters, other devices that allow us to analyze crime, and we're turning to the public.
We cannot do this without the community. We have rewards that have been offered, significant rewards. Sometimes people are afraid to speak out and fear retaliation, because some of these are retaliatory.
So we urge anyone with information, see something, say something. It's 305-471-TIPS, T-I-P-S, and we need people to help us.
KEILAR: Yes. Mayor, good luck. You have a lot to deal with here in the coming months, and we appreciate you talking with us about it.
CAVA: Thank you so much for your time.
KEILAR: Up next, Stormy Daniels live here on NEW DAY. Her reaction to efforts to prosecute the former President underway right now.
BERMAN: Plus, the unprecedented violence that threaten Mexico's elections. Why you should not say it can't happen here.
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[08:29:12]
BERMAN: Manhattan prosecutors turning up the heat in their investigation into Donald Trump and his company. A special grand jury could decide whether to indict the former President or any Trump organization employee.
Potential witnesses have already been contacted and this investigation all started with the hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. The Manhattan D.A. probe was launched on the basis of that payment which constituted an illegal campaign donations, and Stormy Daniels joins me now.
Thank you so much for being with us. We really do appreciate your time. I think what we all want is an update into these various investigations. Have you been called to testify before this Manhattan grand jury?
STORMY DANIELS, ADULT FILM ACTRESS: I have not been called to testify yet, but I've been very forthcoming since the beginning of all this that I would love nothing more than my day in court and to give a deposition and to provide whatever evidence that they need from me.
I mean, have all the original forms and e-mails and wired transcripts and all of that stuff, and I'm happy to turn it over to anybody who needs it, honestly.
[08:30:15]
