Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Two Killed, At Least 20 Wounded In Mass Shooting In Florida; Texas GOP Lawmakers Move Closer To Passing New Voting Restrictions; Interview With Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA); Transportation Secretary Sets June 7 Deadline For Clear Direction On Infrastructure; Study: Food Security Growing Among Active-Duty Military Families; "Unthinkable" Tragedy As Remains Of 215 Children Uncovered; Actor Gavin MacLeod Dies At 90. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired May 30, 2021 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:25]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Right now, a mass shooting outside a concert in Florida, a group of gunmen now wanted for killing two people and wounding at least 20 others.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a despicable act of gun violence, a cowardly act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Breaking news Israel on the verge of a possible power shift when an opposition leader announced moments ago that could end Benjamin Netanyahu's time in power.

And President Biden calls it an assault on democracy. New voting restrictions now one step closer to becoming a reality in Texas.

Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining me. I'm Jessica Dean, in this weekend for Fredricka Whitfield.

And we begin this Memorial Day Weekend with yet another senseless mass shooting. Right now, police are searching for the suspects who opened fire outside a lounge in Miami-Dade County Florida. Authorities say two people were killed and as many as 25 more were wounded late last night. This is the 237th mass shooting in America this year.

Natasha Chen is on the scene now in Miami-Dade County. Natasha, what can you tell us?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, we just saw K-9s arrive on the scene. Investigators have been working all morning since this happened. Police say the shooting happened between midnight and 1:00 a.m. outside of a lounge business that was hosting a private event, a private show. And that some of the guests, the customers, were standing outside when this happened. Police say that a white Nissan Pathfinder pulled up, three people got out with assault rifles and handguns and started shooting indiscriminately into the crowd. Two people have died. As you mentioned, more than 20 others injured, some of them taken to hospitals by ambulance, some of them taken to the hospitals privately in their own cars.

So a lot of chaos here and what we're seeing is that, you know, from the aerial images shot by one of our affiliates, at least we're seeing two people, what seemed to be two people on the ground covered there.

It's a very fluid scene, very emotional for the people involved. One woman came by the scene and said that her son and nephew were here. Here she is talking about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELICA GREEN, SON AND NEPHEW WOUNDED IN SHOOTING: That's my son, my only son, my only child. He is not a statistic. He's a graduate from college last year, so he's educated. And he was going out with his educated cousin to just celebrate the weekend. And they had not made it into the club as of yet.

They said that some guys came from -- three guys that they noticed were -- just started shooting up the area for whatever reason. We don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: For the families of the people who are injured right now and police are really asking the public for help because they need to identify these people responsible. And the police director also made a comment about how violent this weekend has been so far.

And of course, Jessica, you mentioned how many mass shootings we've had across the country this year alone. And so this is a very big concern for the greater area, especially in Miami here where the police director today did say to the media that they're concerned about a very violent summer.

DEAN: The 237th mass shooting in America this year.

All right. Natasha Chen, thanks so much for that update from Florida.

Let's go now to Texas where Republican lawmakers have moved one step closer to imposing new voting restrictions in that state. This morning, after more than seven hours of overnight debate, state senators voted along party lines to adopt legislation that would make mail-in voting more difficult, and prohibit after hours and drive- through options.

This measure moves Texas closer to other states like Florida and Georgia that have seized on former President Donald Trump's lies about widespread voter fraud.

Dianne Gallagher is in Austin for us, covering the developments. And Dianne, the Texas House now has a deadline to pass this bill by midnight tonight. Where do things stand?

[14:04:49]

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jessica.

I can tell you, I'm pretty tired right now. It ended that debate, that vote was taken by the Senate along party lines just after 7:00 a.m. Eastern. Like you said, more than 7.5 hours of debate on Senate Bill 7.

The House will take it up sometime, according to the calendar, after 6:40 p.m. Eastern time this evening and they have until midnight to vote on it, or it cannot become law.

Now, we talk about what is in this bill. There are, of course, those similarities to states that we've seen. But Texas is already starting from a position of having extremely restrictive election laws to begin with.

So this makes things even more restrictive by adding more regulations and more civil and criminal penalties to the process. Like making it a crime to send unsolicited mail-in ballot applications. It also codifies the hours of early voting so it eliminates the ability to have 24 hours of early voting, or even late night early voting.

No irony -- no irony lost there on the fact that the decision was made overnight to do this.

It changes ID and signature matching. It stops drive-through voting and it expands access for partisan poll watchers. Look, it also includes things like language that lowers the burden of proof, making it easier for judges to overturn an election.

And I can tell you, look, I cover voting rights across the entire country. What I heard from this senator last night is something that unfortunately has become very common.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORRIS MILES (D-TX), STATE SENATOR: Where I'm from, where I'm elected to be a voice in this chamber, they do call and refer to it as Jim Crow 2.0.

And they do ask me, every time I'm in the neighborhood, is this 19 -- is this 2021 or is this 1961? Now why are we allowing people to roll back the hands of time?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Now, look, the Republican sponsors of this bill say that it is about security, rooting out fraud, and also having uniformity across the state, but of course, Jessica, we need to make it very clear that there was no demonstrable fraud in Texas or in the 2020 election here in the United States.

The governor himself even said that they had not found any but that doesn't mean, in his words, that there wasn't any. So we will see what happens tonight. It will likely be a very late night here in Austin.

DEAN: Right. No evidence of fraud in Texas, massive fraud in Texas or anywhere else across the country in a year where we saw record voting in 2020.

Dianne Gallagher, it's so important, thank you for that update. We appreciate it.

And joining me now is Congressman Ted Lieu. He is a Democratic representative from California and a member of the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committee. He also served as an impeachment manager.

Congressman, it's great to have you. Thanks for making time for us today.

I just want to talk a little bit about what we heard Dianne describing there. We are seeing this all across the country in various states, these voting restrictions going into place, being made law. Do you see any way to stop this wave of voting restrictions?

REP. TED LIEU (D-CA): Thank you, Jessica, for your question.

Let me first say that with yet another mass shooting in America, my thoughts and prayers go to those elected officials who continue to obstruct common sense gun safety measures. It will be up to God as to whether or not they are forgiven.

In regards to your question we passed HR-1 in the House of Representatives. It is a very strong bill that will protect voting rights. It will also pass campaign finance reform and anti-corruption provisions.

We hope the U.S. Senate will also pass HR-1 and that would stop or reverse many of these state laws.

DEAN: But in the Senate, though, it's going to need 60 votes to pass that filibuster. And there's just no way that's happening right now.

So what do Democrats do? Do -- you know, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema said they're not blowing up the filibuster. So what can be done? Because it doesn't appear like that Voting Rights Act is going anywhere in the Senate and it even has pushback from people in the Democratic Party.

LIEU: It would require Senators Manchin and Sinema to change their mind and hopefully when they see Republicans continue to obstruct all their legislation that it's going to move America forward such as the January 6 commission that they will, in fact, change their mind and allow the filibuster to be modified, especially for something as critical as voting rights.

DEAN: And something else that was affected by the filibuster was the January 6th commission vote on Friday. That was taken down by the filibuster. It didn't get the 60 votes it needed. And they voted down -- it was a bipartisan insurrection commission. Let's listen to your Democratic colleague from Colorado talking about his frustration with trying to satisfy Republican demands on that. Let's listen to that.

[14:09:58]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): I am sick of playing the game of whack-a-mole with GOP members in Congress. And every time we, you know, address one of their concerns another one pops up. It's like playing whack-a-mole or chuck-e-cheese growing up.

We just can't continue to do that forever. We need to get answers. There's an urgency to this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And so there is an urgency, he says, and I know that you feel that way as well. Where do you think Democrats go from here? Is it the select committee? Do they try to go back and modify this more?

I know that Nancy Pelosi worked with Senator Collins to put Republican amendments into this bill, yet it still couldn't get the 60 votes.

LIEU: Bipartisan majorities of the House and Senate supported the January 6th commission. Only about 35 Republican senators were able to hold up this bill.

This is an assault on democracy, the likes of which I've never seen. And so we need to get to the bottom of the January 6th insurrection. We can do it through a select committee, or we can also have our regular congressional committee, such as the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight Committee do its normal functions and investigate as well.

So there's multiple paths to investigate. And what I do know is that the full truth will come out. Senator Mitch McConnell and the Republicans cannot stop the full truth from coming out.

DEAN: Right, but now it's going to have to be Democrats. It's going to be by virtue, then, partisan simply because Democrats are going to have to move ahead without Republican support. So how do you get Americans to see this not as a partisan issue, but it is about the truth?

LIEU: Because the hearings will be open, and the public can watch these hearings and watch these witnesses testify under oath and they'll be able to judge for themselves what is true and what is false.

Just because a committee is going to have somewhat more Democrats than Republicans doesn't mean that what they hear from the witnesses isn't the truth that's coming out.

DEAN: And back to that vote on Friday there were 11 senators, nine Republicans, two Democrats, who were absent for that vote on Friday. They all gave varying explanations for why they weren't there. What is your reaction to them missing that vote? What message do you think they send by not being there?

LIEU: I think they should put their vote up again and see if they can get closer. And I think with public sentiment shifting and people realizing that January 6th needs to be investigated, I think if the Senate puts a vote up again maybe they'll get a closer vote to getting the bill through and then maybe they try putting up the bill again and again and again.

And my view is that everything in politics seems impossible until it happens. So you never know when public sentiment breaks in a big way that causes these senators to vote for this commission.

DEAN: Right. It is interesting that Senator Pat Toomey, a Republican, he did miss the vote but he said he would have supported the commission.

I also wanted to ask you about one of your House colleagues, that's Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene who has called Democrats Nazis, or made the comparison, also compared mask mandates to the horrors of the Holocaust.

It took GOP leadership five days to condemn those particular remarks, but she has faced no punishment from them. What do you see? Do Democrats step in at any point? Obviously, she has been stripped of her committees. But is there anything else that Democrats would be willing to do at this point or want to do if Republican leadership won't act?

LIEU: Marjorie Taylor Greene was a follower and adherent of the crazy QAnon conspiracy. Now that she's in Congress she says things that sound just like QAnon. I can only assume that she's still following the crazy QAnon conspiracy.

And then when Republicans refuse to disown her remarks, then they're embracing Marjorie Taylor Greene and QAnon. And we're seeing the radicalization of the Republican Party in real-time.

My hope is that the sensible, logical wing of the Republican Party will gain power. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case and so we're seeing a more extreme, more dangerous Republican Party right now.

DEAN: But do you think that the Democrats would move to put forward something to expel her or do anything else beyond what's been done already?

LIEU: So I am a pretty big defender of free speech. Marjorie Taylor can continue saying crazy, bigoted, racist, sexist things. The best way to fight back is to point that out and point out that Republicans are embracing her.

And then it's up to the voters next year as to what they want to do with the Republican Party and Marjorie Taylor Greene. DEAN: Yes. Congressman Ted Lieu, as always, great to have you. Thanks

so much for being with us.

LIEU: Thank you, Jessica.

[14:15:00]

DEAN: We are following breaking news in Israel. Naftali Bennett just announced he has enough support to form a government. So the question is, what's next? And is there anything Benjamin Netanyahu can do about it?

Plus a very disturbing discovery in Canada, the remains of more than 200 children found buried near a school.

And an Atlanta Braves star in trouble with the law. Find out what police say happened at Marcell Ozuna's home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: We are following breaking news out of Israel where Naftali Bennett says he is ready to join a new coalition government to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

[14:19:53]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAFTALI BENNETT, ISRAELI OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): I am announcing that I'm going to work in order to erect a unity government together with Mr. Yair Lapid, my friend, in order to return the state of Israel to its potential.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: This creates the potential for a significant power shift in Israel where Netanyahu has been prime minister for the last 12 years.

CNN's Hadas Gold is live in Jerusalem. Hadas, tell us about where the situation stands right now. And what is it going to take for this to move forward?

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, this is a big blow to Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel could be seeing the final days of its longest-serving prime minister, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been in power for 12 years.

But with Naftali Bennett, he's the leader of the small right wing party called Yamina, with him announcing that he's willing to join this new unity coalition, which is made up of a wide swath of parties from left and now all the way to the right, this could mean the beginning of the end for Netanyahu because Naftali Bennett's support in this sort f anti-Netanyahu bloc of parties was key to getting them to have the numbers that they need to have the majority in parliament in order to unseat Netanyahu. Now, in a speech just in the last few minutes to the country Naftali Bennett said that he was doing it, he was willing to sit with parties on the opposite end of the ideological spectrum from him in order to help prevent Israelis from going to a fifth round of elections in two years.

He said that he is trying to keep -- to pull Israel out of the political paralysis that it has been in for the past two years, going after round after round of elections.

Prime minister Netanyahu gave a speech right after Naftali Bennett saying that Bennett was doing the con of the century and saying that such a government would be a left wing government, would be a danger to Israeli security.

But although Naftali Bennett has announced that he will be willing to join this new coalition government this doesn't mean that it's over because there's a few more steps that need to be done before this government is actually sworn in.

Now the coalition agreements between all of these different parties who are willing to sit together have to be signed and then it has to be presented to the president and also then voted in parliament and then sworn in.

So that means we are a few days away, potentially, before this government being sworn in and things can change. Things in Israeli politics can change at the last minute and they can change very quickly. And the numbers here are slim. So one or two defections could completely change the calculations here.

DEAN: Right. It is absolutely fascinating.

All right. Hadas Gold for us, thanks so much.

Discovery in Canada, the remains of more than 200 children found buried near a school. We're going to have more on that.

Plus, still ahead, the Biden administration wants a clear direction on infrastructure talks by June 7th. We'll have more from the White House.

That's next.

[14:22:43]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: The Biden White House is setting a deadline for progress on an infrastructure bill. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says there has to be clear direction by June 7th. And he tells CNN those talks are moving along.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: I think we are getting pretty close to a fish or cut bait moment but I'll tell you that on the fishing side of things the negotiations have been healthy. There's a lot of conversations going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN White House correspondent Arlette Saenz is in Wilmington, Delaware this afternoon where the president is spending the holiday weekend.

And Arlette, where do things stand on infrastructure right now?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, President Biden had initially set this Memorial Day Weekend as kind of a soft deadline for coming up with the contours of an infrastructure deal but they are clearly blowing past that.

Now looking towards June 7th, June 9th as a date when they hope to have some type of agreement reached if they can, in fact, reach that.

Now, right now the sides still remain incredibly far apart. Republicans towards the end of last week introduced a nearly $1 trillion counterproposal to what the president had last proposed, around $1.77 trillion.

But still, the two sides have not come to any kind of agreement on exactly how to pay for this proposal. The White House wants to raise taxes on corporations while Republicans say that is a non-starter for them and there are still disagreements about the scale and scope of what an infrastructure deal might look like.

Now, the president is expected to host Shelley Moore-Capito, a Republican senator from West Virginia. He's expected to host her at the White House at some point in this coming week as they're trying to get closer and closer to some type of negotiation but the question is how much longer will the president be willing to negotiate before potentially deciding to go this alone with just Democratic votes?

DEAN: Right. And you're in Wilmington, Delaware which means President Biden is at home in Wilmington over this weekend. How is he marking Memorial Day?

SAENZ: Well, the president this morning spoke at a Memorial Day service here in Delaware where he talked about how the military is the spine of the country. And the need for the country to come together this Memorial Day Weekend to honor the lives lost and honor their legacies.

This is the president's first time speaking at a Memorial Day service as commander in chief. And he also tied in some personal reflections into this day.

It is not only Memorial Day Weekend but today is the six-year anniversary after his son beau Biden died of brain cancer. This morning the president and his family attended mass at their local parish here and they took a short stroll over to the grave site where Beau Biden was laid to rest. [14:29:57]

SAENZ: Beau had served in the Delaware National Guard and had deployed to Iraq.

And as the president spoke at that Memorial Day service this morning he talked about the impact of a loss, like the loss he faced with his son, and that so many military families have also faced after losing their loved ones in battle. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNTIED STATES: Beau didn't die in the line of duty but he was serving at Delaware National Guard unit in Iraq for a year, that was one of the proudest things he did in his life.

So, thank you for allowing us to grieve together today. I know how much the loss hurts. I know the black hole that it leaves in the middle of your chest. It feels like you may get sucked into it and not come out.

Greetings like this and gatherings help. And while I know nothing I can say to ease the pain, I just know that each year, it gets a little bit, a little bit easier.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: And in that speech, the president also talked about how the country was founded by on the idea that men and women are created equal and the U.S. needs to speak out against human rights abuses. And he said that in an upcoming meeting with President Putin, he plans to raise human rights abuses, teeing a potentially consequential meeting in just a few weeks with the Russian -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. That's coming up soon.

All right. Arlette Saenz for us in Delaware, thanks so much.

After a hiatus due to the pandemic, a familiar Memorial Day event is back. Rolling to Remember, taking to the streets of Washington, D.C. to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.

And, tomorrow night, at 9:00, here on CNN, the richest black neighborhood in America, ripped apart by a violent white mob. Here's a preview of the CNN film "Dreamland: The Burning of black Wall Street".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Imagine Harlem, Bourbon Street and Chocolate City all in one place.

ANNOUNCER: From executive producers LeBron James and Maverick Carter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People call it the black Wall Street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was nothing that you could not do. The sky was the limit.

ANNOUNCER: A strong black community destroyed by a white mob.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's lynch talks on the streets of Tulsa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: White Tulsans murdering black folks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Between 100 and 300 people, most of them black, were killed by white mobs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, we're calling it a massacre.

ANNOUNCER: The crime was hidden.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Victims were buried in unmarked graves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were trying to get rid of the bodies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: White Tulsans could control the narrative.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a systematic cover-up.

ANNOUNCER: Until now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a responsibility and an obligation to find the truth.

ANNOUNCER: "Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street".

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:36:51]

DEAN: A special Memorial Day tradition returned to the streets of Washington, D.C. today. This afternoon, hundreds of bikers are making their way across the city as part of Rolling to Remember, the special event raises awareness for veterans issues. But bikers were unable to gather last year because of the pandemic.

Today's gathering is expected to be one of the largest in Washington since COVID restrictions were lifted in the city earlier this month.

Now this is shocking, but true. One of the biggest challenges facing those who serve our country is hunger. It's an issue that the pandemic has only amplified. According to a 2020 study, less than 6 percent of active duty families reported food insecurity before the pandemic. That number is now sitting at 7 percent.

I'm pleased to be joined by Blue Star Families CEO and President Kathy Roth-Douquet, and Massachusetts Congressman Jim McGovern.

Good afternoon and thanks for being with us this afternoon.

Both of you took part in a roundtable earlier this week to come up with some solutions to address this issue.

Kathy, I'll start with you. What did you take away from that sit-down?

KATHY ROTH-DOUQUET, CEO AND PRESIDENT, BLUE STAR FAMILIES: That there are real solutions for us but we have to drive the attention to this issue. The overall numbers are high but when we look at certain populations, for instance, in the enlisted, it's 14 percent who are experiencing hunger right now. And that's just not okay.

DEAN: It's absolutely -- I mean, I was shocked by that, truly. And 14 percent, and even higher number there. Congressman McGovern you called this crisis a national outrage.

So what do you think is the first step to fixing this problem?

REP. JIM MCGOVERN (D-MA): Well, one of the things that we highlighted was the fact that this is a problem that's under-discussed. It's a nationwide problem and it's solvable.

You know, one of the things that we talked about was to create a basic needs allowance to support low-income service members who don't qualify for SNAP. My colleague Congressman Panetta of California is pushing that idea. We ought to adopt that.

One of the things we also learned was that housing allowances for a lot of service members count toward their total income and oftentimes makes it eligible for SNAP. We ought to change that. And we ought to be thinking out of the box with regard to other solutions. You know, we had a person -- a professor from Syracuse, Professor Colleen Heflin who talked about creating a transition to SNAP benefit to lower income members transitioning out of the military.

But, look, we can solve this, hunger amongst our military men and women and their families is a political condition. We just need to have the political will to act.

DEAN: And it sounds like, too, what you're saying is that some of these service members and their families are kind of in this weird hole between -- they make too much to get SNAP benefits, but they're not making enough to make sure that their family has the food it needs.

MCGOVERN: That's correct, and it's something that we can fix. Yeah.

DEAN: Go ahead, Kathy.

[14:40:00]

ROTH-DOUQUET: Jessica, also the way they count it. The same family living on base without the housing allowance but with housing will be eligible but you move that family off base and most of them do go off base, then suddenly because they get the money in their pocket before they pay for housing, that same family is no longer eligible and that's just crazy.

I also want to mention this is a problem for families. It's families who are going hungry. The service member's income may be enough for them, for themselves, but not for the spouse who can't work often, or for the children.

DEAN: Right, and as we talked about, this was a problem even before the pandemic began, but it's gotten worse.

Kathy, walk us through what about the pandemic has made this worse for this particular group of people and then what are the particular challenges facing these -- you're talking about families, so I would think that obviously you want to make sure that kids -- I talked to one person that works in hunger relief that says if you're hungry it's really hard to learn.

So, how do you -- how do you connect all of those dots? It must be a particular challenge for families as you were saying.

ROTH-DOUQUET: It's the challenge that falls to families. It's a structural problem.

Yeah, listen, working class and middle-class people in America we need two incomes to make our ends meet and for military families the pandemic was especially hard hitting because almost all military spouses who had been working before, almost all either lost their jobs, that's 42 percent who lost their jobs, or lost their hours, the number of hours they had to work. So 47 percent lost that.

Compounding that, the kids are at home. You're having to feed kids one or two meals a day that you weren't under free and reduced school lunch. This was very hard hitting for military families.

DEAN: Yeah, for so many people, the military families absorbing all of that in the last year plus.

Congressman, early data also suggests that the military families of color are disproportionately facing food insecurity at rates higher than their white peers and that they also have fewer financial resources to navigate these uncertain financial times.

We've also seen this theme within socioeconomic issues during the pandemic, it's a broader theme during the pandemic with communities of color being more affected. I'm curious how Congress can combat that crisis, that you're seeing that disproportionate number of people of color who are really suffering here.

MCGOVERN: Yeah, absolutely. Look, you know, when people say to me, I can't wait to go back to normal and get this pandemic over with, my response is, I don't want to go back to normal. We need to do much better than normal.

It's one of the reasons why the Rules Committee, which our chair as doing a series of hearings on hunger and food insecurity in America. It's not just amongst our military families. We have a hunger problem in this country, 45 million Americans who are hungry during the pandemic. Before the pandemic, it was 35 million. That's unconscionable. It's one of the reasons we're doing these hearings and we're also

calling on President Biden to do a White House conference on food, nutrition, health and hunger. Let's pull everybody who needs to be at the table together and come up with a holistic plan, connect the dots, think out of the box, solve hunger for everybody in this country, and deal with the inequities inherent in our system for way, way too long.

DEAN: And there it is. And I think, you know, for you all it sounds like it's also about education and reminding everyone out there that the men and women who serve this country maybe don't know where their next meal is coming from for their families.

So, thanks for bringing attention to that, we appreciate it.

Kathy Roth-Douquet --

MCGOVERN: Thank you for doing this.

DEAN: -- and Congressman Jim McGovern, thanks so much.

MCGOVERN: Thank you.

ROTH-DOUQUET: Thank you.

DEAN: Seven people are presumed dead after a small plane crashed into a Tennessee lake yesterday. Parts of the plane have been recovered as well as human remains by officials from multiple agencies investigating that crash. The search is ongoing, and among the presumed dead is controversial diet guru and Remnant Fellowship Church leader Gwen Shamblin Lara.

The plane took off Saturday morning from Tennessee and was in route to Palm Beach, Florida.

Police arrested a star player for the Atlanta Braves on domestic violence charges Saturday night. Marcell Ozuna is accused of choking his wife and throwing her against a wall. Officers say they witnessed it happening. He's now charged with felony assault and is being held at the Fulton County jail. That charge carries a minimum of three years in prison and maximum of up to 20 years if convicted.

Up next, it is being called an unthinkable tragedy, the remains of 215 children buried near a school. We will take a closer look at this school's dark history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:49:25]

DEAN: Flags on all federal buildings in Canada are being lowered following the horrific discovery last week of the remains of 215 children. They were found on the grounds for indigenous children in British Columbia.

Paula Newton explains it shines a light on a dark chapter in Canadian history. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The discovery is astounding, and so, too, the anguish, leaving community members and much of Canada reeling. The remains of 215 children, some as young as 3, buried for decades on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School, their deaths believed to be undocumented, graves unmarked.

[14:50:10]

The indigenous community in British Columbia calls it an unthinkable discovery and yet former students of the school like Harvey McLeod who was subjected to abuse there, tell us they've thought of nothing else for decades.

HARVEY MCLEOD: What I realized yesterday was how strong I was as a little boy, how strong I was as a little boy to be here today. Because I know that a lot of people didn't come home.

NEWTON: It was one of the largest residential schools of its kind in Canada, but there were well over 100 across the country. Many, like the one in Kamloops was run by the Catholic Church and later by the government.

According to Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, indigenous children were forced to attend the schools, separated from families, and many neglected and worse, physically and sexually abused. And many disappeared. Their families never knowing what became of them.

CHIEF ROSANNE CASIMIR, TK'EMPLUS TE SECWEPEMIC FIRST NATION: What they were told was that when children were missing, that they were told they ran away.

NEWTON: And yet the community here knew that couldn't be true. Survivors and families of the missing children were sure a mass grave would be found. But they were unprepared for the loss of 215 souls.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was devastating. It was actually quite mind boggling.

NEWTON: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that it's a painful reminder of that dark and shameful chapter of our country's history. The government's own commission says thousands of children likely died of abuse or neglect in these schools, the legacy now is one of intergenerational trauma for many of Canada's indigenous communities.

While the archbishop of Vancouver and other individual societies have acknowledged the abuse, the Catholic Church has never formally apologized.

In 2019, Trudeau agreed decades of abuse perpetrated on indigenous peoples amounted to cultural genocide.

Now, native leaders say it's time for the government to step you want. 215 shoes are laid on these Vancouver steps, finally their souls symbolically at rest.

Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Unthinkable there.

Still ahead, a search under way right now for the suspects behind a mass shooting in Florida. We'll talk live with businessman and TV host of "The Prophet", Marcus Lemonis, who's offering a $100,000 reward.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:57:22]

DEAN: You won't find paved roads or resorts on the Georgia coast's largest barrier island, but you will find a paradise preserved in time in this "Off the Beaten Path."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL HAMILTON-ANDERSON, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: Cumberland Island National Seashore is only accessible by boat. It is an island that has not succumbed to development so it's a great place to come and find that isolation you're seeking as a family or as an individual.

CROWD: Welcome to Cumberland Island.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We get to relax and let the kids play without having to worry about crowds or social distancing.

HAMILTON-ANDERSON: The beaches at Cumberland Island are, the word we like to use is pristine. There are 18 miles of beach and no buildings, just the dunes, the beach, the water. The maritime forest on Cumberland Island is unique. We have quite a number of trees you look at today, dates back at least 100 years. We have horses that's 100 to 150 at any given time on the island, and people absolutely love that.

MICHAEL SEIBERT, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: The ruins behind me were donated to the National Park Service. Here, you can see what the remains of or the Carnegie era estates. They encapsulate a moment in time. They preserve that heritage, the kind of gilded age lifestyle.

Dungeness mansion is starting point to the 50 miles of trail at Cumberland Island National Seashore. There's so much room for some solitude. We have over 36,000 acres. You can find your spot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Beautiful there.

Well, sad news today for many who remember traveling the high seas with the beloved character Captain Stubing aboard "The Love Boat".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAVIN MACLEOD, AS CAPTAIN STUBING: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking.

We've now miss passed the great island of the International Date Line. For the next hour, we will experience gusty trade winds on the upper decks. Have a nice day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Gavin MacLeod who played that role from 1977 to 1986 passed away last night. Despite his nine years captaining the Love boat, MacLeod may be best known for his role on the iconic "Mary Tyler Moore Show" where he played Murray Slaughter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Murray.

MACLEOD: Hi, Lou.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How's everything going, Murray?

MACLEOD: Fine, just fine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm out of pins, dear, don't sit down, I'll be right back.

MACLEOD: She didn't have a dummy big enough.

(LAUGHTER)

Maybe she did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Murr.

In a touching tweet, fellow "Mary Tyler Moore" alum, Ed Asner wrote: My heart is broken.