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Don Lemon Tonight

Democrats Wants I.G. to Investigate Trump's DOJ; Former A.G. Bill Barr Denies Knowing Any Information Seized from Democrats; Vladimir Putin Praise Trump's Talent; Trump's DOJ is Watergate 2.0; Trump Scandals Fell on GOP's Deaf Ears; Chicago Police Arrested Over January 6th Riot Involvement. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired June 11, 2021 - 22:00   ET

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

[22:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: All right. That's it for us. Don Lemon Tonight with the best part of the show, the upgrade, Laura Coates starts right now.

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: You know, I feel like Chris saying Don Lemon Tonight. I'm not Don Lemon just in case there was any confusion, but it seems like, you know.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Anybody who were to confuse the two of you would need to turn off the T.V. immediately. Ball up their fist, ram it into their face and then take a nap.

COATES: I feel like you may have spot this out. That's a really good response and a quick one. I don't know.

CUOMO: Yes, me punching myself in the face I think about in a regular time. We're not -- we're not doing it. You know, I want to ask you something.

COATES: Yes.

CUOMO: Because you are a bona fide prosecutor. Mike Mukasey was a good A.G. and a great lawyer. And I know him and I respect him. And I get what he is doing and his benefit of the doubt analysis. But if Bill Barr had a clean kill on this story being like boy, do you have this wrong. He would not be, I can't recall in his way sideways, and we both know Trump would not be quiet. As a former prosecutor, how does it smell?

COATES: It doesn't smell good. And I think you said it right when you said it doesn't pass the smell test at all and the notion here, look, we can all agree we don't want people to be leaking classified information. We know that there are national security risks, but the notion here that there you can conflate the idea of a legitimate pursuit with one that's pretextual, that's actually the cracks of the issue here. And so, benefit of the doubt, of course. Is it odd that a prosecutor

goes and gets a subpoena? Is it odd that you go and get documents? Absolutely not. What's odd is the overlapping coincidence is out of thin air that suggests, you know what? Huh, I think we are going to target potentially people who are investigating this White House, investigating the investigators and not at all thinking that anyone would see some even allegation of pretext.

It's really shocking. And you know what else is shocking? As you had in your guest there, the notion of the crickets coming from the Republican Party. I mean, today it might be Congressman Eric Swalwell. Today, it might be Congressman Adam Schiff, but it could easily be Devin Nunes or Jim Jordan or anyone else. And so, the notion of this would not get bipartisan support I think is jarring at best.

CUOMO: Well, they're too concerned with the Wuhan lab story right now which takes us back to the beginning of the pandemic that they agreed was a hoax with their silence about what the president was calling it a hoax.

Then I think the biggest problem for them in justifying this and the good news as I'm sure you're going to talk about tonight, is it's great that you have a lot of the high up staffers who are part of this, still the DOJ, so you'll probably get their cooperation. But if it's about national security that's a big stick to swing.

But these are largely conversations that you say never happened. So, they wouldn't be able to have any national security to escape, and to the extent that they did happen they were largely declassified during the pendency of this probe. So, you kind of undercut your own premise about why you were doing it.

COATES: Therein lies the rub, but you know when all else fails, I guess you can just say, no I'm being objected because this person has ever been to my house person, and I've never been to his.

CUOMO: Yes. I've never been to your house. You've never been to mine. But I know you're smarter than that.

COATES: Well, I wasn't going to say anything. But you know, a meal, a coffee, a desert. I don't know.

CUOMO: You don't want to be seen with me. I'm doing -- I'm doing you a favor, Coates.

COATES: I didn't know how to put it. But thanks, Chris. I'm seeing with you now. I'm glad to see you right now. Happy Friday night.

CUOMO: Have a great Friday night. I look forward to the show.

COATES: Thank you. This is Don Lemon Tonight. And I'm Laura Coates in for Don.

And it is another big news night. Lots of new developments in the wake of the firestorm over revelations that the Trump Justice Department seized records from Apple targeting Democrats in the House intel committee, staff, and even some family members.

And now we are learning the DOJ its inspector general will investigate. Senator Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin are calling for former Attorneys General Bill Barr and Jeff Sessions to testify before the judiciary committee. But they're going to need the support of at least one Republican, which frankly hardly is a sure thing.

That as Democrats on the intel community want Apple to look whether any other members were targeted. And Bill Barr tells Politico he wasn't aware of any congressman's records being sought in a leak case, not while he was attorney general.

And all of that, well, it brings me to this point. Richard Nixon had enemies list. Donald Trump apparently thought he had an enemy department. And the irony is not lost on any of this. Trump, he cursed leakers.

[22:05:06]

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And frankly I think it's disgraceful, and I think it was leaks from intelligence committee. The House, the House version. And I think that they leaked it. I think probably Schiff leaked it. But some people within that -- and Schiff leaked it, in my opinion. And he shouldn't be leaking things like that.

They ought to stop the leaking from intelligence committee. If they don't stop it, I can't imagine that people are not going to go after them and find out what is happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: And then his Department of Justice used leak investigations to target the free press and his perceived political enemies. Trump cursed the Department of Justice's special counsel, Robert Mueller and the House impeachment managers for when he called a witch hunt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They call it the rigged a witch hunt. I think that really hurts our country and it really hurts our relationship with Russia.

We've been hit by fake, fake investigations. Fake scandals. Fake impeachments.

(CROWD CHEERING)

TRUMP: We've had -- we've had so many things that the witch hunt -- I call it the witch hunt. It turned out to be a phony witch hunt. And they should have known it the first day. They did know it the first day. But it's the deep state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: But a leak hunt against Democrats and the press? Well, that's a whole different story. And what we are going to learn a lot more about. Now he vilified FISA warrants claiming the government spied on him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Nobody has been abused by FISA like the president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: But now we know his own government pursued the communications of some of his so-called political enemies. Subpoenaing data from Apple to obtain records from reporters and congressmen, even a minor child. He's whined about being censored, canceled, silenced.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice under his appointees repeatedly demanding absolute gag orders. Preventing Apple from telling anybody what the DOJ was up to, preventing CNN from telling Barbara Starr the government wanted her records. He projected everything he seemed to be doing on to someone else. The media. The Democrats. His opponents. His predecessor. And Attorney General Barr, well, he played cutesy with semantics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Attorney General Barr, has the president or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone?

WILLIAM BARR, FORMER UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: I wouldn't -- I wouldn't --

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: Yes or no?

BARR: Could you repeat that question?

HARRIS: I will repeat it. Has the president or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone, yes or no, please, sir?

BARR: The president or anybody else?

HARRIS: Seems you would remember something like that and be able to tell us.

BARR: Yes, but I'm trying to grapple with the word suggest. I mean, there have been discussions of matters out there that they have not asked me to open an investigation but --

HARRIS: Perhaps they suggested it?

BARR: I don't know, I wouldn't say suggest.

HARRIS: Hinted?

BARR: I don't know. HARRIS: Inferred? You don't know?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Here are my humble suggestions for Attorney General Merrick Garland. The news that the DOJ's inspector general will investigate the seizure of the data of lawmakers and staff and some family members, that's a good start. But I suggest you reassure the public that the Department of Justice Does not seek to undermine a coequal branch's ability to check an abuse of power.

And I humbly suggest you ensure that no one is above the law, even within the department whose job it is to enforce the law. Because the stakes are too high to play cutesy or have words like the Department of Justice come down to semantics.

I want to bring in CNN White House correspondent John Harwood. Glad to see you on a night like this, John. So much to get to with you in particular.

John, you covered the Trump White House. I mean, we knew based on Trump's Twitter feed and his rallies exactly who he thought his enemies were, so, and now it appears that the DOJ was weaponized to go after those enemies.

I'm talking about Democratic lawmakers and their aides, their families and media organizations. I mean, he was very public about his enemy list, and now here we are. And yet it's just so unprecedented. Even with all those tells, is it not?

[22:09:54]

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Laura, the remarkable thing about President Trump and his administration was how openly he corrupted the processes of government. Remember when he was a candidate? Russia, are you listening? Go get those e-mails?

[22:10:07]

As president, suggesting China open investigations of Hunter Biden attacking Jeff Sessions, his attorney general for recusing himself in the Russia probe. Firing James Comey, the FBI director and saying it was because he thought Russia was a hoax, which of course it was not.

Attacking his own vice president for upholding the constitutional processes, counting the electoral votes after the 2020 election. Donald Trump didn't hide it. You know, Richard Nixon did not publish his enemies list, but Donald Trump put it right out there, suggested that the legal process should be deployed against his enemies.

So, it's no surprise as we learned, and we are certainly going to learn more as the months go on, that his Justice Department not only targeted reporters who cast critical scrutiny on him, but also on members of the opposing party who were bringing to light his cooperation with Russia. His welcoming help with Russia, as Robert Mueller later showed in his report. COATES: You know, it's such a shame, because here we are trying to in

many respects have the public reassured about the integrity of the Justice Department, and just a few months into the tenure of the new attorney general, the shadow looms large of the last one in a really profound way.

I mean, Attorney General Barr he is telling Politico, John, that he wasn't even aware of any congressmen's records being sought in a leak case. I mean, but do you think about that? Is that really plausible that something as serious as trying to pursue the private records of sitting congressman on the intelligence committee wouldn't have crossed Bill Barr's desk?

HARWOOD: I think that is precisely why the members of Congress want to subpoena Bill Barr to get him to answer that question under oath rather than a phone call with Politico. The Justice Department inspector generals also going to look into this.

Let's remember, Bill Barr does not have high credibility. He misled the country about the context, the contents of the Mueller report when it came out. And he was recently admonished by a federal judge for misleading the court about the processes that led to his handling of the Mueller report.

So, Bill Barr does not have a strong record of credibility, and he's going to face some more scrutiny over exactly what the decision making here was. It's not surprising that Jeff Sessions might not have known. He recused himself from the Russia probe when this apparently was undertaken in 2017, it is not plausible though that some other political appointee, perhaps Rod Rosenstein did not know this. Career people would not take the steps without consulting higher ups.

COATES: I mean, I was a career prosecutor. I can't imagine that this was takin without that. And what a statement for us to even be questioning the credibility of an attorney general. I mean, that's just so telling right now.

But you know, John, I want to turn to President Biden's overseas trip. He's undoubtedly having to face a lot of the same discussion points that we are talking about here while he's abroad. And he's meeting with Vladimir Putin next week. Here's what Putin told NBC about President Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR SIMMONS, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, NBC: You once described President Trump as a bright person. Talented, how would you describe President Biden?

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Well even now, I believe that former U.S. president Mr. Trump is an extraordinary individual, talented individual, otherwise he would not have become U.S. president, He is a colorful individual. You may like him or not. And, but he didn't come from the U.S. establishment. He had not been part of big-time politics before, and some like it, some don't like it but that is a fact. President Biden, of course is radically different from Trump, because President Biden is a career man. He spent virtually his entire adulthood in politics. Just think of the number of years he spent in the Senate. A different kind of person. And it's my great hope that yes, there's some advantages, and some disadvantages, but there will not be any impulse based movements on behalf of the sitting U.S. president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: I mean, John, no doubt Biden's meeting with Putin will be entirely different than Trump's face-to-face with the Russian president. Is that what you think too?

HARWOOD: Absolutely. Vladimir Putin helped Donald Trump get elected president for a reason. Russia interfered in the 2016 campaign and after Donald Trump became president, he advanced Vladimir Putin's objectives. He covered for him. He shielded him from criticism. He questioned the U.S. commitment to NATO to the series of things that advanced Russian objectives.

Joe Biden is a very different kind of president and so no wonder that he's in that interview talking about how smart Donald Trump was and raising questions about Joe Biden. It's going to be fascinating to see exactly how Joe Biden handles that meeting. It's going to be -- he is certainly going to set a different tone in the relationship.

[22:14:57]

What is uncertain is how effectively Joe Biden with that different approach than Donald Trump can constrain the behavior that Vladimir Putin has been fragrantly engaged in. Not only interfering in our elections but hosting criminal networks within Russia that had been conducting ransomware attack, the SolarWinds hack which is ascribed to Russia.

There's all sorts of malign behavior from Vladimir Putin that Joe Biden is going to try to rally allies and himself directly with Putin, trying to stop, and the question is going to be how effective is that.

COATES: Let's hope we all learn more about this meeting that we didn't from Helsinki. John Harwood, thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Nice talking to you.

I want to turn to former Congressman Denny Heck. He was a member of the intel committee, and he is now the lieutenant governor of Washington State. Welcome to the show, Lieutenant Governor. How are you?

LT. GOV. DENNY HECK (D-WA): I'm good. Thanks for having me on, Laura.

COATES: I'm glad you're here. You are on a call today with past and also present members of the House intelligence committee. What did you learn?

HECK: Well, they just kind of brought us all up to speed on what had have been thus far to get us in the circumstance. Chairman Schiff wanted to make sure that we had as much background information as he did. I was the only former member on that I can tell. There weren't many people that lead the intelligence committee, because it's such an interesting committee and such importance national security work. Members tend to get on and stay on as long as they can.

COATES: Which of course begs the question as to why it would've been appropriate to try to intercept those private communications with people who are on this highly sensitive committee.

Lieutenant Governor, do you have reason to believe that you were targeted? I mean you are a former member, now but you have any reason to believe that you yourself were targeted or your communications?

HECK: So, I was on the committee during the period of time for which the subpoenas were issued in 2017. And of course, none of us knew for sure at the time of the discussion of the private conference of the day, but we all submitted our telephone numbers and our relevant e- mail addresses which were then submitted to Apple for review, to see whether or not they had been subpoenaed.

Breaking news here, Laura, it turns out I was not one of those that was subpoenaed. During the course of the afternoon when I was pondering this given the news report that they were up to 73 phone numbers that were asked for, I began frankly to wonder how I could not be one of those.

I did not understand how they could get 73 numbers if it was just two members of the committee of the staff. But it does beg the question as to just how extensive these subpoenas were and how many people were involved. How many family members. How many other minors? How many other friends of the members of committee who've had their records subpoenaed by the Department of Justice?

Look, I want to be very clear and upfront. If the inspector general goes in the direction that I think many of us assume he will. I think William Barr ought to be disbarred. Because I don't think anybody ought to be able to legitimately call themselves a lawyer who doesn't have a more regard for the rule of law than this kind of behavior demonstrates.

COATES: Lieutenant Governor, that's quite a statement. The notion of the attorney -- former attorney general in that position. You know, it's also interesting the point you made. If the goal was to figure out who was the source of any leaks or to get sources, wouldn't it have just made sense investigation wise to have cast such a wide dragnet that you would unavoidably one of the people whose records would have been accessed as well?

I mean, it seems far more selected and targeted, which doesn't speak well about a wide scope or dragnet to get to the crux of the issue. Does it seem that way to you?

HECK: Well, Laura, you are the former career prosecutor. You would know better than me, but clearly in hindsight there was no predicate for this. You know, usually you would think subpoenas have to be predicated upon some notion of why we would, I guess as a lay person characterized as probable cause.

Clearly, there was none. Clearly, it was a dry well that kept coming up about us with. Notwithstanding, Attorney General Barr pushed to go ahead on this. I mean, Laura, who does this? Russia does this. North Korea does this. Authoritarian regimes do this. But this doesn't happen in a healthy democracy, and that ought to serve as a very loud warning sign for all Americans.

COATES: It's also a very stunning revelation in part that this is happening while the president of the United States is on his first overseas trip. Oftentimes having to be obviously the chief diplomat of democracy across the globe.

Lieutenant Governor, thank you for your time. I appreciate it.

HECK: You're more than welcome.

COATES: You know, the comparisons to a previous president, well, it's inescapable. Some are calling this Watergate 2.0, but this may be even worse than what Nixon did. Well, next, I'll talk to two men who should know.

[22:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: Trump's DOJ seizing private records of his political opponents. It's drawing comparisons to another president who went after his rivals, Richard Nixon. Now he had an enemies list, which former Nixon White House counsel John Dean described in a 1971 memo as a tool to, quote, "screw our political enemies." And Nixon eventually resigned in disgrace over the Watergate scandal.

Joining me now, CNN contributor John Dean and CNN presidential historian and former director of the Nixon Presidential Library, Tim Naftali.

Wow, what a dynamite duo to talk about this very issue and these comparisons. Glad to see both of you.

John, let me begin with you. This as you know is drawing comparisons with Richard Nixon and some are referring to it as even as Watergate 2.0. I mean, in this case the Trump DOJ went after reporters and multiple sitting members of Congress. You obviously have firsthand knowledge of what happened under Nixon. Is this worse than that?

[22:24:54]

JOHN DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's a little bit different. There are some parallels with reporters. Nixon did wire top reporters. At the time it was legal to do it, he had the director of the FBI do it. When the taps became illegal, they did pull them, but he did reporters and White House staff.

Now on Congress there is nothing comparable to what we are seeing here. I can recall no action by Nixon where he ever tried to use the grand jury subpoena process to go after members of Congress and learn about what they might or might not know.

In fact, he really got rebuffed every time he tried to bring a legal action in the area of leaks. That statute was not used other than with Daniel Ellsberg unsuccessfully who is the massive leaker of the Nixon presidency. And there it's not a pretty story at all what he did with Ellsberg.

COATES: Now Tim, you say Nixon created a ramshackle system that allowed him to go after political opponents. And while under Trump, as John is taking about, I mean, the entire justice system it seemed was hijacked and when abuses like these are institutionalized, how dangerous do they become?

TIMOTHY NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, this is the part of the story and I agree with John's assessment that there were some parallels and some big differences. One of the big differences is that the permanent government, not the deep state, the permanent government was more compliant to Trump than it was for Nixon. Nixon was not able to get the IRS, for example, to act on the enemies list.

Nixon was not able to get the Department of Justice to do everything he wanted to do. He was so frustrated in fact that he couldn't get the kind of cooperation he expected for abuse of power against his enemies that he created the plumbers. He created an illegal espionage team within the White House.

Fast forward to Trump and Trump was able to suborn the Justice Department we are going to find out about the threshold if there really was one, or the predicate that the Justice Department prosecutors use to seek a subpoena against sitting members of Congress.

Let's just step back for a minute. This spying was renewed, which means that during both impeachments the executive branch was spying on Congress. Just think about the implications of that. This is a deep attack on our separation of powers doctrine and it's extremely, extremely troubling given the Trump administration kept fighting for executive privilege while now apparently, or clearly, spying on Congress.

COATES: I mean, let that sink in about the idea of why you had not one but two impeachments that the idea that this was an available tactic. John, are you surprised? We don't know, again, we don't know all of the ins and outs of this investigation. The factual predicate that led to it we had a lot to learn still, that's true.

But you mentioned the idea of Nixon being rebuffed at different turns. And Tim talking about the idea of the IRS providing certain behavior. Would you be surprised if no one in the DOJ power structure stood up and said this is wrong? I mean, these are sitting members of the intelligence committee. A coequal branch of government. What do you think, John?

DEAN: It looks like they rolled over and did what he wanted. He might not have even given them a direct order. It might have been a tweet that sent them off. So, actually I'm not surprised. Tim has nailed it. Trump had a very big compliant bureaucracy. Nixon did not. That was part of his problem.

So, we actually are in very different times and it's quite surprising that it was once considered a check in the bureaucracy and it really is no longer. But Laura, I don't think we've begun to find out what has gone on and I think that that's going to be something that is unveiled over the next few years, and it's likely to get worse than what we are seeing right now.

COATES: Well, that's scary. It's the tip of the iceberg. I mean, John, there's some history in terms of a former attorney general, you know, being liable and guilty, first of all. You know, the former attorney general, John Mitchell who served 19 months over Watergate, he was convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice, and perjury.

You know, lawmakers are now demanding answers from Bill Barr over these leak investigations. Are you seeing parallels between what happened with Nixon and Mitchell, and now Trump and Barr?

DEAN: Is that question to me, Laura?

COATES: Yes, John.

DEAN: OK. I do see some parallels. I don't know how Barr is going to handle it. He has actually I think done more damage to the Department of Justice by a factor of maybe 100 than John Mitchell did. John Mitchell really kind of played by the rules. He didn't really run the department very aggressively.

[22:30:01]

He had an assistant who was a longtime Department of Justice employee who kind of guided the attorney general who knew nothing about Washington or the Department of Justice. I actually worked at the department before I went to the White House, so I was very familiar with the operations there.

And today, it's a very different department. Barr was a micro manager. He didn't -- typically the deputy attorney general runs the department. Barr run the department for all practical purposes. He was a former deputy. He was a former attorney general he knew which strings to pull to make different reactions throughout the entire department.

COATES: Now, of course I wish I had more time to talk to both of you, because now the question of course is what kind of a department is it now under A.G. Merrick Garland? We've got a lot more ahead, gentlemen. Make sure you stay right here on CNN, everyone.

And Anderson Cooper 360 special, Barack Obama on fatherhood, leadership and legacy is right after this show.

And next, the GOP didn't quit Trump 10 bombshells ago. Any chance they ever will?

[22:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: So, the Justice Department's inspector general will now investigate the Trump DOJ seizure of data of Democratic lawmakers. While Republicans are mostly silent about the targeting of their Democratic counterparts, of course.

Joining me now to discuss CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein, and Mark McKinnon, former adviser to George W. Bush and John McCain, the executive producer of Showtime's The Circus.

I'm glad to see you both here this Friday night. Mark, you tip your hat for us, let me go to you for a second, please. Because the GOP they couldn't quit Trump after the insurrection, after the big lie, and they are standing by him again as we are learning about what is likely only the tip of the iceberg of abuses during his administration. I mean, are they aware that they are potentially standing on quicksand here?

MARK MCKINNON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think they have been, and they are and it's just getting worse. They're not only doubling down, they're clawing their way to the bottom, they decided to go all in with Trump. Go all in on the myth about the election, go all in on election fraud, and now, they have nowhere to go on this DOJ investigation.

And as you've heard, you heard nothing out there from Republicans. Only crickets. Because they know it's bad. And there is going to be an I.G. investigation to find out more about this, and it's not going to be good. But Republicans have touched -- I don't think this is tip of the iceberg. I think it's a bottom of the iceberg that's going to sink the Titanic of the Republican Party.

COATES: And you know, this time of year we got to say we're not hearing cicadas, nor crickets at this point in time.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

COATES: -- here in Washington, D.C. Especially, Ron, you know, Biden, he ran on bipartisanship, but Republicans are blocking nearly all of his agenda, and also some Democrats are looking at what's happening and wondering if they're getting played if this is bipartisanship theater.

I mean, what are you hearing, particularly because an issue like this, frankly, I mean, you should have bipartisan support. Because there were also Republican members of Congress that Trump was at odds with that could very well have come under this dragnet. What are you hearing?

BROWNSTEIN: Look, I think Mark nailed it exactly right. I mean, the Republican Party has decided they are all on Donald Trump. I mean, you look at the polling three quarters of Republican voters says they still want him to be leader of the party.

And I think the really frightening thing is that a large share of the Republican base and coalition would find nothing wrong in what he did. They've kind of adopted in any means necessary mindset towards holding off what they see as a Democratic coalition that would fundamentally, in their view, transform America.

It's the same impulse that's behind this wave of voting laws that are passing in the states, making it harder to vote on almost entirely party line basis. And as you point out, it leaves Biden, I think in a difficult position.

I mean, he did run on bipartisanship, there's a lot of polling that suggest the American public wants bipartisanship, but there is growing frustration among Democrats that there is no realistic chance of getting 10 Senate Republicans for almost anything the Democrats want to do.

And so, I think the rubber is really going to hit the road this summer, and the inability to come to consensus on something like this or on the January 6th commission really underscores how hard it's going to be on anything that is a substantive policy.

COATES: And Ron, you have a piece in the Atlantic, and it's titled, democracy is already dying in the states.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

COATES: I mean, we are looking at the 309 bills going through 48 states right now.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

COATES: I mean, that makes it harder to vote. And Democrats in those states are already -- there are under no illusions about what Republicans are really interested in here, and it's obviously not bipartisanship. I mean, just keep in mind, today, A.G. Garland made the announcement about, you know, --

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

COATES: -- buttressing the voting rights section of the Civil Rights Act where I'm an alum to try to address many of these concerns.

BROWNSTEIN: Well as you know, Garland is very limited in what he can do. Because the John Roberts court in 2013 tore out the heart of the Voting Rights Act, the preclearance provision, all they can use is what's known as section 2, and the Supreme Court maybe about to weaken that too.

The best response Democrats have, really, the only lever they have to push back against what's going on in the states is federal legislation, setting a federal minimum standard of voting rights. But Joe Manchin is saying that he will not move forward on voting rights unless it's done in a bipartisan nature.

And what I was able to point out today with the help of the Brennan Center was that the standard that he is upholding, that it should only be done if both parties agree, is emphatically what is not happening in the states. All of the major voting rights laws, the restrictive voting rights laws that have been passed in the states, except for one, have been passed almost entirely on a party line basis with opposition from almost every Democrat and support from every Republican.

[22:40:03]

And so, all of these state level Democrats that I talk to in states like Arizona, and Florida, and Iowa, and Texas, where they are being steam rolled by this party line Republican offensive against voting rights are absolutely incredulous that Manchin is saying, in effect, that he will only act against voting restrictions if Republicans in Washington agree to constrain what Republicans in the states are doing. That's not the standard that's unfolding in the states themselves, Laura.

COATES: So much to talk about. I wish I had more time with both of you. I wanted to hear your reaction, too, Mark. Thank you for being here. We'll catch you next time. Thank you for taking the time.

MCKINNON: Take it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

COATES: You know, another alleged rioter arrested now facing five federal charges. But this one, well, he is a Chicago police officer. Not only allegedly infiltrated the capitol, but he wore a Chicago P.D. sweatshirt while doing so. More on that, next.

[22:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: Tonight, a Chicago police officer is charged in connection to the January 6th capitol insurrection. Accused of unlawfully entering restricted areas. Violent and disorderly conduct. And entering the office of a senator. The officer allegedly sent photos of himself at the riot wearing a hoodie with the Chicago Police Department logo on it. Chicago's mayor calling him a quote, "total disgrace to the badge."

More from CNN's own Omar Jimenez.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Within the ranks of the hundreds that have now been charged in the aftermath of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, a Chicago police officer now among them facing federal charges.

DAVID BROWN, SUPERINTENDENT, CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT: We have a zero tolerance for hate and extremism of any kind within the Chicago Police Department. And if you harbor such ignorance in your heart you should take off your star now and find another line of work, or I will do it for you.

JIMENEZ: Federal authorities obtained text messages, Chicago Police Officer Karol Chwiesiuk, allegedly sent starting January 3rd according to a criminal complaint, he allegedly told one contact I'm going to D.C. The reply? When and for what? Chwiesiuk says to save the nation, leaving tomorrow or the 5th.

Federal authorities say he left on the 4th and arrived in D.C. just a day later. Then January 6th he allegedly takes this selfie, a sweatshirt with the Chicago police logo on it, then once allegedly inside the capitol seen carrying a Trump flag as described by authorities, he even went to Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley's office posing for pictures according to federal authorities. And when he allegedly sent the photo in a text to a friend he later said, n-word, don't snitch.

All the cameras and videos from the scene were doing the snitching form.

MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT (D), CHICAGO: This is not about somebody's political views. This is about somebody who is fomenting hate and violence against our democracy, and like-minded fellow travelers against people that all of us represent and who we stand for.

JIMENEZ: Chwiesiuk was arrested Friday morning and charged with five federal misdemeanors alleging unlawful entry in a restricted building and violent and disorderly conduct on capitol grounds. Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown says Chwiesiuk was relieved of his policing duties on June 2nd when the department learned of his alleged involvement. He had been an officer for two and a half years.

BROWN: The fact that a Chicago police officer has been charged in that attack on American democracy makes my blood boil. Participating in the siege on the capitol in any way was a betrayal of everything we stand for.

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JIMENEZ: And federal authorities say the phone associated with Chwiesiuk sent roughly 36 messages containing pictures in under an hour while he was allegedly inside the capitol. There was no hiding anything. He made his initial court appearance Friday morning but was released on bond. We've attempted to reach his attorney, but haven't gotten a response. Laura?

COATES: Unbelievable. Omar Jimenez, thank you. We'll be right back.

[22:50:00]

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COATES: W. Kamau Bell is back with an all-new episode of United Shades of America. In this week season finale, Kamau travels to Dallas to learn more about the experiences of the black transgender community. Here's a preview.

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UNKNOWN: I began my transition in '64. I went to college, and I came out with a nursing, license. So, I was able to --

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W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST: To get that money?

UNKNOWN: Yes. You know, you had to do something to pay --

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BELL: Of course, of course.

UNKNOWN: -- for those Neiman Marcus dresses. So, I worked as a nurse.

BELL: So, at the hospital you were worked that you are --

UNKNOWN: At the hospital I was Sharon.

BELL: OK.

UNKNOWN: And undressing, going back home with my family.

BELL: That's got to be stressful.

UNKNOWN: It was. It was very stressful. I thought it was really, really time for me to be me.

BELL: Yes.

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COATES: Be sure to tune in for the all-new season finale of the United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell, it airs Sunday at 10 p.m. only on CNN.

And one in five children in the U.S. has a learning difference. And children who face these challenges are more likely to be suspended, drop out or end up in a juvenile justice system.

Well, this CNN hero understands all of this because he has lived it. David Flink was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia at age 11. And struggled throughout school. Now as an adult he's working to make sure that children like him don't fall through the cracks of the education system. His nonprofit Eye to Eye pairs college or high school students with learning differences with schoolers who have similar differences. Unleashing confident, successful learners in the process.

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DAVID FLINK, FOUNDER, EYE TO EYE: Eye to Eye provides a safe space that's constructed around what's right with kids so they can talk about their experiences.

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

[22:55:01]

UNKNOWN: I have anxiety. Like I shake a lot.

UNKNOWN: yes, that happens to me sometimes.

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

UNKNOWN: This is nice (Inaudible).

UNKNOWN: My masterpiece.

UNKNOWN: Really cool. I like how you use the duct tape as a handle.

FLINK: My moment that I'm wishing for is when the problem of stigmatizing kids because they learn differently goes away. I want them to know that their 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.

UNKNOWN: All right, Daniel.

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COATES: To learn David's whole story and see the magic that happens when children are seen and understood, go to cnnheroes.com and while you are there, nominate whomever you think should be a CNN hero.

Thanks for watching. Our coverage continues with Anderson Cooper 360 special. Barack Obama on fatherhood, leadership and legacy.

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