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Biden Open To Exchanging Cyber Criminals With Russia Amid Recent Ransomware Attacks?; Netanyahu Out As Israeli Prime Minister; Biden's Royal Meeting With Queen Elizabeth; This Weekend, Eight People Killed, Another 48 Wounded In Mass Shootings Across U.S.; Apple Informed Former White House Counsel Don McGahn And Wife That Their Account Records Were South By DOJ In 2018; Danish Soccer Player Christian Eriksen In "Stable" Condition. Aired 1:55-3p ET

Aired June 13, 2021 - 13:55   ET

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

[13:55:12]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right. Right now, President Joe Biden is heading to Brussels for the NATO summit after wrapping up the G7 in England. Before his departure, he was welcomed by Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle for afternoon tea.

All right. Biden is the 13th U.S. president to meet with the now 95- year-old monarch, the meeting also marking the queen's first major engagement since the passing of Prince Philip in April.

As Biden moves into the NATO summit, which starts tomorrow, all eyes are on his face to face meeting on Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Biden agreeing this morning with Putin's earlier remarks that the U.S. relationship with Russia is as bad as it's ever been.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me make it clear, I think he's right it's a low point. And it depends on how he responds to acting consistent with international norms, which in many cases he has not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Brussels for us right now.

So, Jeff, what kind of expectations are being set for this Biden and Putin meeting? This after really a very warm reception during the G7 and what appeared to be a very comfortable lovely setting at Windsor Castle as well.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, certainly an extraordinary set of pictures from Windsor Castle there as we saw Queen Elizabeth welcoming President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, really capping off several days in England. The softer diplomacy side of his trip here, but he is coming to

Brussels, he'll be arriving here this evening and will be at NATO tomorrow, really stressing the military alliance and continuing on his theme with America is back. Of course, turning the page from the Trump era.

But it is that Putin summit in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday, that the White House and the president are focusing the most on. And earlier today, President Biden was asked directly about why he does not believe that he should hold a press conference with Putin so the two being -- standing side by side in Geneva. This is how he explained his relationship with Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: As I told him when I was running, when I got elected, before I was sworn in, that I was going to find out whether or not he, in fact, did engage in trying to interfere in our election, that I was going to take a look at whether he was involved in the cybersecurity breach that occurred, et cetera. And if I did I was going to respond.

I did. I checked it out. So I had access to all the intelligence. He was engaged in those activities. I did respond, and made it clear that I'd respond again.

This is not a contest about who can do better in front of a press conference or try to embarrass each other. It's about making myself very clear what the conditions are to get a better relationship of are with Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So clearly outlining some of the discussion points, including election interference, the president being pretty clear right there about how he does believe that Russia has had a hand in that as well the wave of recent cyberattacks. The question is can they form any type of stable relationship? That's what the White House and the administration is wondering, if Russia wants to be a player on the world stage in a respectable way.

So, of course, there will be a series of meetings on Wednesday but there will not be that joint press conference and of course we all remember from three summers ago, in Helsinki, when the former President Donald Trump standing side by side with Vladimir Putin and taking his side over U.S. intelligence officials.

So tomorrow, there is the NATO summit, of course, and an EU summit on Tuesday, but again, all planning and preparations and eyes are on Geneva for that summit with the Vladimir Putin. And Fredricka, just a few moments ago as the president was leaving England, he talked just briefly about his meeting inside Windsor Castle for about an hour or so, he called the queen very generous, very gracious. He even said she reminded him of his mother and her look and her generosity.

[13:59:50] So certainly, some interesting descriptions there, but of course, the 95-year-old Queen. He is the 13th American president who she has met, 12 during her reign as queen. Of course, Harry Truman in 1951 when she was a princess.

So what a long legacy there. But certainly Mr. Biden who's steeped in history is so pleased to be a part of that club, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Indeed, what a great compliment and he and Dr. Jill Biden looking so comfortable there in that very beautiful setting.

It even seemed like there were moments where the president, you know, wanted to defer to just being a gentleman, reaching out. but of course there are the rules of don't ever touch the Queen. But he looked like he wanted to, you know, help her down the steps, even. But she also seemed to be quite delighted about their presence.

All right Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

So Biden also indicated today that he is open to exchanging cybercriminals with Russia amid recent ransomware attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, I'm open to, if there's crimes committed against Russia, that in fact are -- the people committing those crimes being harbored in the United States, I'm committed to holding them accountable. And I'm -- I heard that, I was told as I was flying here that he said that. I think that's potentially a good sign of progress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. With me now is Fareed Zakaria, host of "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS". Fareed, so good to see you.

So let's begin. Let's get the reaction that you might have about the exchange of words between Putin and Biden. I mean neither of them were critical of one another. Both of them are setting a tone that they're willing to have an exchange of ideas and thoughts when they meet.

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN ANCHOR: I think it's all very encouraging because, look, as the administration has said, ideally you want a stable and predictable relationship with the -- with Russia, between Russia and the United States.

The -- Russia is a rogue actor on the world stage right now. This seems to be part of a strategy that President Putin has had -- to gin up nationalism at home partly to preserve his own power. But be that as it may Russia is a huge country. It has nuclear weapons. It has a seat on the U.N. Security Council. It spans what -- nine, ten time zones, it's involved all over the world. It's important that the United States know how to do business with it.

And on the issue you raised, I think, you know, it would be a very good start to begin by seeing if there are areas regarding cybercrime, ransomware, that there can be some cooperation. I think that the Russians may be recognizing that this is a kind of Frankenstein's monster and it needs to be put under control.

But as I've pointed out on my show, the ransomware attacks have tripled just in one year. They're 50 you know, 50 times higher than they were five years ago. This is a huge problem. And if some U.S.- Russian cooperation could help regulate it, that would be great.

WHITFIELD: The secretary of state has said earlier that the president really has two objectives when meeting with Putin. One to say I'm in agreement with you, relations have deteriorated and it's time to build them back up.

And then at the same time that the U.S. means business when it means putting Russia in check if they continue to do bad things in the interest of the U.S.

What do you think about those objectives, realistic?

ZAKARIA: I think they are realistic. I think, you know, part of the challenge with the relationship like the one between the United States and Russia today is, these are not friends, these are not allies. But that does not mean you can't find areas of common agreement.

I mean, this is -- you know, one of the things we seem to forget is you negotiate diplomatically, often with your adversaries, you're not trying to achieve a wholesale conversion of Russia to America's side or America's cause on any issue, but you try to find areas of cooperation, areas of mutual agreement or at the very least areas where both agree that it's better to bring the temperature down. And I think that's imminently doable.

WHITFIELD: Biden says he doesn't want conflict with Russia, but you know, promises to confront Putin. So how does he convey that in this conversation?

ZAKARIA: You know, the dance you have to -- you have to be willing to go through here is partly deterrence, partly seduction or integration, by which I mean part of what you're trying to do is draw from the red lines and say this stuff, if you do this, will really be met with severe repercussions. We will retaliate.

But on the other hand you always want to leave open the possibility that there is a gain, a benefit to be had, by integrating more with the world, with cooperating with the United States, with cooperating with the west.

[14:04:56]

ZAKARIA: So, you know, that's the challenge. You have to be tough. But you can't lose sight that ultimately what the hope has to be is that a country like Russia, or a country like China, will find that they have a lot to gain by being part of the international order, part of, you know, call it the liberal international order, if you will. And there are great opportunities for them -- trade, things like climate, cybercrime, pandemic prevention. So you try to find ways to say there's -- this is not just about punitive. This is not all about sticks. This is also about the idea that we can -- we can all be better off if we have some degree of cooperation.

WHITFIELD: That's all looking ahead.

Now let's look back, just a little bit, at the G7. It seemed like there was real relief with Biden's messaging, his demeanor, you know, the other G7 leaders openly said we're excited that the U.S. Is back. We're excited to be looking ahead and working together. How much of a reset was this?

ZAKARIA: This is a huge reset, I mean to begin with -- and I hate to admit this -- Biden's press conference was in comparison to his predecessor, a little boring.

You know, his predecessor, Donald Trump's press conferences, particularly after meetings like the G7, were a freak show. They were a circus. You didn't know whether he was about to blow up the alliance. You didn't know whether he was about to announce that the United States was withdrawing, was you know, going to impose new sanctions on his closest allies in the world.

So from that point of view, what Biden presented was something much more predictable. But I mean that in a very positive sense, right. What the world needs from the United States is stable, predictable leadership, and what he provided was that.

But he also did something very traditional, which was to set the agenda. He came to that meeting fresh from the success the United States has had with the vaccine deployment, and then put this huge offer on the table -- 500 million vaccines.

It got the Europeans to agree to match it. So now you're up to a billion vaccines. That strikes me as very traditional American leadership, agenda-setting, trying to goad the Europeans into doing more -- all for the benefit of the world, right.

The United States shows that it's not just doing -- it's not just looking out for itself, but it's looking out for the world.

WHITFIELD: Right.

ZAKARIA: In a sense -- again, predictable, traditional, maybe a little boring but I think we know which way the world prefers it. A United States that, in a perfectly normal, predictable way, tries to end up solving a bunch of global problems, or as I say, the circus freak show we had for the last four years.

WHITFIELD: Some U.S. leadership leading to some global cooperation. Nice way of putting it, Fareed.

Stay with me.

We've got some breaking news out of Israel right now. Benjamin Netanyahu is out as prime minister of Israel after 12 years in power.

CNN's Hadas Gold is in Jerusalem. So Hadas, tell us how this vote went.

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Fred, for the first time since 2009, somebody other than Benjamin Netanyahu is now prime minister of Israel, just in the last few minutes, Naftali Bennett, Netanyahu's actually former chief of staff-turned-rival, was sworn in as the new prime minister of Israel.

He's the leader of a small right wing party called Yamina, and he's part of a unique, diverse coalition of political parties. Although they are very disparate in their political views they are united in one thing, and that is that they wanted to see the end of Benjamin Netanyahu.

He is an unlikely prime minister, but thanks to an unlikely confluence of events he has now become prime minister. It's going to be a very fragile coalition with a razor-thin majority and we saw that in the confidence vote to bring in this new government. It was only 60 votes for, and one abstention. 61 is the majority needed to bring in a new government.

But this goes to show you the situation that this new coalition will find itself in. And Benjamin Netanyahu, the longest serving prime minister in Israeli history, 12 years as prime minister, you cannot deny the indelible mark that he has left on Israel, is now officially out.

But he's not going anywhere. He will now be leader of the opposition, and his Likud Party is still the biggest party in the Israeli parliament.

And in a very combative speech earlier today before this vote took place he said that he will do everything in his power to try and topple this government. He called it weak, he called it dangerous. He attacked Naftali Bennett saying that he will be a danger to Israel's security.

And he said that Naftali Bennett, he said, will not be able to stand up to the U.S. administration when he needs to say no to the U.S. president, going through a list of times that he says he has stood up and said no to U.S. presidents from Barack Obama to President Joe Biden, laying out his differences with them, really sort of throwing a wrench into the relations with the Americans.

[14:09:58]

GOLD: But Naftali Bennett for his part in his speech said that he will work to try to deepen and broaden the relationship in the United States, especially on a bipartisan level with both Democrats and Republicans, saying that this government will be simply a government that works.

And the first order of business for this new coalition government, for this new prime minister is to simply survive and stay in power. And one of the ways that they can do that is pass a budget in the first 150 days as they have promised.

Israel has not had a budget for the past years because of this political dysfunction, four elections in two years. But now it has come to an end, this coalition government saying that they simply want to work. They don't expect to take on any big hot button issues.

They don't expect to start potentially a new peace process with the Palestinians. They're going to work on more interior issues -- welfare, economic security, infrastructure, things like that. They say that they simply want to show the Israeli public that they can have a functioning government, people who actually want to do the work, less of the infighting, less of the divisiveness.

Now, the real challenge will be the work, can they do it and can they survive over the next few months, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Hadas Gold in Jerusalem, thank you so much.

Fareed Zakaria back with me now. So Fareed, your point of view on what went wrong for Netanyahu, besides the no state budget for quite some time now? What went right for Naftali Bennett?

ZAKARIA: More than anything else this is a kind of affirmation of Israel's democracy because Bibi Netanyahu was a popular figure. He's a very polarizing figure, but in general he has managed to forge a majority coalition.

Remember, he's been prime minister for 12 years, but was prime minister three years before that. so he's dominated the Israeli political scene. But what went wrong was his own attorney general indicted him and led a series of prosecutions against him.

And at some point seeing that, and other alleged abuses of democratic process and norms, I think led a lot of Israelis, many of whom agree with Bibi Netanyahu politically, to believe that the country would be better off with a different prime minister.

Remember, Naftali Bennett was Benjamin Netanyahu's chief of staff.

WHITFIELD: Right.

ZAKARIA: There are other parties there that have allied with Netanyahu in the past, like Avigdor Lieberman. This is a -- this is a vote, really, about saying that they want a more sane, predictable, normal Israeli democracy without the kind of larger than life figure of Netanyahu.

But Netanyahu has reshaped Israel. Even though he has left office, if you think back over these 15 years, he is the most influential prime minister Israel has had since its founding Prime Minister David Ben- Gurion.

He reshaped the economy of Israel. He reshaped Israel's relations with the United States, taking a much harder line position, essentially killing the two-state solution for 15 years.

And then reaching out to the rest of the world and normalizing eventually relations with a bunch of Arab countries.

So you cannot deny his accomplishments from his point of view. He was able to achieve, in 15 years, as prime minister, more than any prime minister, as I say, since David Ben-Gurion.

WHITFIELD: So much is just extraordinary. I mean you talk about Bennett and Netanyahu. First allies, now nemesis, you know, as Bennett was his former chief of staff.

But Bennett, you know, he opposes this Palestinian state and believes that Israel should annex much of the occupied west bank. Why will that be popular in Israel, but then potentially not so much on the global stage?

ZAKARIA: It's not even popular in Israel. Israel is very divided on these issues. It has the -- I think it's fair to say that Israel has moved right -- to the right politically over the last 15 years.

But the wholesale annexation of the West Bank is not popular, you know, it means that Israel in a sense formalizes its role as a -- as the -- as in charge of four to five million Palestinians who are then denied political rights.

So I don't think that it's fair to say that that's popular. I think it's true that, for his base, it's very popular, but Naftali Bennett has said I'm going to have to give up on my dreams, which I take it to mean he will not push the hardest line that his base wants and hope that others in the coalition do not push the hardest line, you know, for their coalition.

Everyone is sort of giving a lot in this, this is a big compromise government. And we'll have to see. Are they willing to really make those compromises? Because if they're not, you can imagine a scenario within a week that topples this government. I mean, really, there are so many issues that divide them, the miracle will be if they stay together.

[14:15:00]

WHITFIELD: So how might this impact talks at the NATO summit, which begins tomorrow?

ZAKARIA: I don't think -- I mean, NATO has not had much involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian issue so I don't expect you to see, you know, much go on there.

But certainly, the European countries in general, the European union has very actively tried to play a role in helping establish a Palestinian state. That is not going to happen. There is going to be no negotiation like that because Bennett and Lieberman's parties would break ranks. The government would fall.

I think the Europeans, the United States will have to also recognize that this is a holding pattern for Israel. And you're not going to be able to achieve large, you know, fast-breaking peace deals with a government like this, a compromised coalition government that is fundamentally in a holding pattern.

WHITFIELD: All right. Fareed Zakaria, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much Hadas Gold also joining us from Jerusalem. Appreciate you both.

All right. Coming up, President Biden's meeting with the Queen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: She wanted to know what the two leaders and I -- the one I'm about to meet with, Mr. Putin, and she wanted to know about -- she asked about Xi Jinping and we had a long talk and she was very generous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: It sure was all smiles there, President Biden telling reporters about their visit. More on what they talked about, next.

[14:16:33]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. President Biden's trip abroad as president was a whirlwind, meeting with leaders of the world's richest countries at the G7 summit in England, and then capping it all off today with a royal meeting at Windsor Castle with the Queen. There he is doing the once-over of the troops there, solo.

This is only the fifth time a U.S. President has been invited to Windsor Castle. Biden and the first lady, Dr. Jill Biden, spending about an hour with the Queen after meeting with her face to face there. They had tea and then they eventually departed for Brussels just moments ago. Biden calling her majesty very gracious after becoming the 12th sitting president to meet with the Queen since she took the throne.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: She wanted to know what the two leaders and I -- the one I'm about to meet with, Mr. Putin, and she wanted to know about -- she asked about Xi Jinping, and we had a long talk and she was very generous, very -- I don't think she'd be insulted but she reminded me of my mother in terms of the look of her and, you know, just the generosity.

And I said, you know, ma'am, this is -- you know, it's a long time -- oh no, I said I wish we could stay longer, maybe we can hold the cars up a minute. Anyway. She's very gracious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is the castle like? Americans never go there? What is that?

BIDEN: By the way, she said -- I said this is -- we could fit the White House in the courtyard. And she said what's it like in the White House? And I said, well, it's magnificent, but it's a lot of people.

She said, I know, she said here, she said, on this end we're going, it's private. The public can go on the other end. Anyway, she was very gracious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you invite her to the White House?

BIDEN: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Ok, I was wondering if that was coming. Joining me right now to discuss is Diane Clehane, the royals editor at "Best Life". Diane, that was so lovely to hear his thoughts about that and to compare him to you know -- reminding him of her mother.

I'm actually surprised to hear him say the Queen has never been in the White House. This would be her first invite, if she were to take him up on it, too?

DIANE CLEHANE, ROYALS EDITOR, "BEST LIFE": It's very interesting, yes. I mean, the Queen has not traveled in a very, very long time. Most of the royal family have gone in her stead.

But having said that, I don't think anyone from the royal family has been to the White House in quite some time.

WHITFIELD: Ok. All right, so what do you think -- how do you evaluate what this meeting was like? How meaningful it was. I mean, after all, this too is a meeting involving the Queen, not long after the death of her husband of 73 years.

CLEHANE: Right. Well, I think if any president was well-suited to go after this tragic event for the Queen, it's President Biden. He obviously is very good at expressing empathy and very sensitive to people when they have gone through something.

And that's not to say that they talked about it extensively but I think the way in which he approached the Queen was probably very much how he approaches other people when they have these kinds of issues.

And I think he exudes a warmth. I mean what he just said about the Queen reminding him of his mother, that's classic Joe Biden. and the Queen appreciates that.

You look at the pictures from the summit and the pictures they took out in Cornwall when they were all sitting there and she said are we supposed to be enjoying ourselves? It was just a much lighter tone. And I think she welcomed it.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: It was nice.

CLEHANE: Yes, very much so. WHITFIELD: And it seems like she enjoyed it. I mean, it seemed like we

saw quite a few exhibits of her humor and candor from cutting the cake with a sword to that moment, the class photo of saying are we supposed to be enjoying this, you know --

CLEHANE: Right.

WHITFIELD: -- and everyone kind of, you know, breaking a little laughter too. And even in this picture here, just before the president, you know, took to that podium with Dr. Jill Biden, it looks like he was almost curtseying. Is that what you saw?

CLEHANE: Well, I think Joe sometimes -- President Biden is very sort of spontaneous. So sometimes I think he sort of is caught up in the moment. So I'm not quite sure that was a curtsey but it was probably something that he did --

WHITFIELD: Some deference --

CLEHANE: -- spontaneously, right.

[14:24:53]

WHITFIELD: Right. Ok now, customarily there might be a gift that the president would give to the Queen. What might that be? What do you suppose it was this go round?

CLEHANE: Well, I have sources that have told me that President Biden's team got in touch with Tiffany's, rather late, but they were able to create this special silver box for her majesty, and what they had asked to have been done on the box was a sketch of Windsor Castle on the top with a very personal inscription on the inside from President Biden.

But what I thought was very, very nice, and very personal, was that around the sides of the box were to be flowers, each one from the commonwealth, which of course, is something that someone else did a couple of years ago but I think it has a lot different meaning this go round.

WHITFIELD: Ok. And then what about, you know, a -- I guess, long lasting kind of friendship, a relationship, he -- we just heard him, before he, you know, boarded a flight, or maybe he was just landing, actually in Brussels.

He said he invited her to the White House. Do you believe she might take him up on the offer. And if not what it would mean for any other royal family member to visit the Biden White House?

CLEHANE: Well, I think as I said her majesty is quite up in years. She hasn't traveled in a very long time. I think that what we're seeing in England is that she has deputized so many of the royals that has generally been sort of a secondary role. I mean you have Kate and William who basically have taken the torch and are the face and voice of the modern monarchy, and Charles and Camilla. I mean I think of - if someone were to go it would have been -- it will be one of those couples, or perhaps a combination thereof. But I think that there's probably been a very nice connection between the time that they have spent together and that will endure. And I think will be very helpful to both countries in the long run.

WHITFIELD: And how helpful do you believe this visit was for the Queen, for the palace, overall, particularly, this has been a rather bumpy year for them.

CLEHANE: Absolutely. I think that she's an extraordinary woman, first and foremost, when you saw within days of the funeral she went out and made her first engagement and by all appearances she looked very on her game, very happy, relaxed.

It has been an extraordinarily difficult period for the Queen and for the royal family. And especially this week we were talking earlier about the host of controversy around the name Lilibet. So, you know, it's another week, another royal draw and Her Majesty has really, really just kept calm and carried on as they say --

WHITFIELD: In my view she looked very ebullient and quite spunky, in fact.

CLEHANE: She did.

WHITFIELD: Very impressive.

All right. Diane Clehane, thank you so much.

CLEHANE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. coming up, we're tracking another violent weekend in the U.S. As the astonishingly high number of mass shootings in this country closes in on the 300 mark In this calendar year alone.

[14:27:57]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:32:25]

WHITFIELD: Well, it just seems to be worsening. This weekend, eight people killed another 48 wounded in mass shootings across the U.S. Six shootings across the country in Seattle, Austin, Dallas, Chicago, Cleveland and Savannah, Georgia.

The Gun Violence Archive says the country is on track for the worst year since it started gathering data.

Natasha Chen is with us from Orlando, Florida, where Natasha, you have been following memorial events for the Pulse Club shooting from five years ago. And, now, the calamity continues.

What are you learning about this weekend's string of violence? NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Fred, this weekend's

violence was on the minds of the people who were right here at the memorial last night as they held a ceremony. You can see people continue to pay respects at this wall honoring the 49 people killed five years ago.

Now, granted we're not talking about any event this weekend that killed as many, but the folks I spoke to yesterday here were disheartened to see how frequently these shootings are happening and so often, we're hearing from police departments across the country struggling because they say people simply aren't sharing enough information for them to get the situation under control.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHEN (voice-over): The number of people killed by guns in America continue to rise this weekend, as did the scourge of mass shootings, at least six of them this weekend across the U.S.

DETRIC LEGGETT, DISTRICT 2 ALDERMAN, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA: I'm broken right now because I'm trying to figure out, what do we do? So my conversation is for my police chief and city manager, how do we fix this? Because right now, I need answers and I have to answer to all of these residents who we told them we're going to protect you.

CHEN: In Savannah, Georgia, a shooting Friday night killed one person and injured at least eight others, including a 2-year-old and 13-year- old.

CHIEF ROY MINTER, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, POLICE DEPARTMENT: They're still very hesitant about providing information this time, even though one of the shooting victims is an 18-month-old infant.

CHEN: Savannah was hardly alone. There have been mass shootings this weekend in Chicago, Dallas, Austin, Cleveland and Seattle.

In 2021, there have been approximately 270 mass shootings according to the gun violence archive where at least four people were injured or killed, not including the shooting. That's about 40 percent higher than at this point in June 2020 and about 65 percent higher than this time in 2019.

Local leaders say this problem relates to regional gun policies but there has to be a more comprehensive solution.

MAYOR VAN JOHNSON, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA: The reality is in Georgia, we can't be mad that guns are everywhere when Georgia law allows guns to be everywhere.

[14:35:06]

But we also realize that guns are inanimate objects. And so, we not only need stronger gun laws in Georgia nationally, but also we need to have -- to teach our young people better decision-making.

CHEN: The inability to solve problems without violence is what drives the mission of the OnePulse Foundation, formed after 49 people were killed at Pulse nightclub in Orlando exactly five years ago.

Pulse owner Barbara Poma, now CEO of One Pulse Foundation, talked about waking up on the fifth anniversary of the tragedy, only to hear news of more mass shootings overnight.

BARBARA POMA, CEO, ONEPULSE FOUNDATION: There is a gun violence problem. There is a hate problem. And I don't know where it turned from being bullied at school to going home and crying a finding a way to resolve that, rigiht, and then going home and picking up your parents' gun and going back or to your place of work when you're disgruntled. When did that become a decision, like when that societal shift happen?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHEN (on camera): And, of course, this piece that you just saw was edited just a few hours ago, and since then we have now learned of potentially one or two more mass shootings, and so, we are trying to update those records and numbers right now as we speak. It just goes to show how difficult this is of a situation to understand, to keep track of, and to figure out the solution, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, bottom line, just too much, too much.

All right. Natasha Chen, thank you so much.

And we're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:40:40]

WHITFIELD: All right. New today, we're now learning that the dragnet by the Department of Justice to try to find White House leaks also included investigating former White House counsel Don McGahn and his wife. Apple confirming that the DOJ sought records for both of them back in 2018. This comes after the news Trump's DOJ secretly subpoenaed Apple and Microsoft for metadata on 73 phone numbers and 36 email addresses, including several members of Congress and at least one minor.

CNN crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz is with us now.

So, Katelyn, what more can you tell us about this investigation and where it's going now?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Fred, what we've got here is a game essentially of not it with the Justice Department in what was an apparently unusual, aggressive investigation, or investigation into people around Don McGahn and the Hill.

We don't know a lot. We don't know what was being investigated and we don't know who was being investigated. And we are also, you know, learning from sources today who are saying that Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein who were at the top of the Justice Department at this time in 2018 weren't aware of this and also that this wasn't something that was coming from the Mueller investigation that was active at that time investigating people around the president.

Here's what we do know. That Apple was subpoenaed for data about McGahn and his wife in February of 2018. That was a really intense time in the Trump administration. It was a time when McGahn was getting orders from the president to try and get rid of the special counsel and then the president was asking him to lie about it, and then McGahn was becoming a witness, a key witness, in the Mueller investigation. So he really was at odds with Trump at that point in time.

And this was the same period that there were records sought from the House Intelligence Committee, staffers, and two members of Congress who were -- who are Democrats on that committee.

Now, so all of these things are sort of at a confluence that we're learning, piecing this together, and then the additional thing both with the House subpoenas and the subpoenas related to McGahn, all of those were put under a gag order so that Apple couldn't disclose to their clients that the Justice Department had requested this information or ordered this information, and they are just getting notice of it now, in the new administration.

Now, I must say, like to be sure, we do not know if this was a legitimate leak investigation or not, excuse me, it most likely was a legitimate leak investigation but the issue here is that whether or not the appropriate steps were taken to get these things from a grand jury, get the subpoenas, get the court orders, et cetera.

WHITFIELD: Uh-huh. And because there remained so many questions, now there are -- there's, you know, an audience of people asking for the Attorneys General Barr and Sessions to testify. Among them, the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

POLANTZ: That's right. Schumer, this morning, gave a news conference in New York. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MAJORITY LEADER: Sessions and Barr must testify under oath as part of a formal congressional investigation. Because of this -- because this revelation that the Trump Justice Department subpoenaed personal phone data of members of Congress, including a minor, that -- those revelations are just shocking. This was nothing less than a gross abuse of power, an assault on the separation of powers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: And we'll see how successful the Senate and the House, which also is indicated they're interested in investigating this, may be. The inspector general of the Justice Department, the independent watchdog for that agency, also is reviewing some of the subpoenas specifically regarding the Hill -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much.

Let's dive more into this. Here with me now, CNN senior legal analyst and author of the upcoming book "Hatchet Man: How Bill Barr Broke the Prosecutor's Code and Corrupted the Justice Department".

So, something tells me I have an idea how you feel about this whole thing. Elie Honig, thank you so much for being with us.

So, all right. You know, we're learning that the DOJ sought records for former White House counsel Don McGahn and his wife back in 2018.

[14:45:04]

Perhaps it's not unusual for an administration to investigate who might be sharing information, but what are the things you find unusual, unethical or perhaps even abuses of power?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah, Fred, we knew that this scandal was going to get deeper and darker, and this could, but I want to stress, could be a step down that path.

Now, the timing is really important here because in January of 2018, that's when a news story came out reporting for the first time that Donald Trump had asked McGahn to fire Mueller. This subpoena that we're talking about to get Don McGahn and his wife's phone records was one month after that, February of 2018. If there's a connection, if the subpoena relates to this incident with firing Mueller, then we've got a huge scandal.

However, there also could be more innocuous explanations, if DOJ was investigating somebody else who happened to speak with Don McGahn and then subpoenaed the phone numbers of all the numbers who that other person spoke with, McGahn's phone number would have come out sort of incidentally in the course of that.

But all of this raises sort of the key questions, one, what was the basis for this investigation in the first place? Two, who authorized it? Like Katelyn says, everybody at DOJ seems to say it wasn't me. And three, why was it so broad? Why were they getting so many people's numbers?

WHITFIELD: Wouldn't it be easy to find out, though, because apparently, there are still people at DOJ who remain, who were there during the Trump administration while all this was allegedly happening, and then, is it possible that the Attorneys General Sessions and Barr wouldn't know about all of these requests that they would be completely removed from these actions?

HONIG: So, all of these answers absolutely are out there, they are obtainable. It is going to be the job of the Justice Department inspector general and Congress to get those answers. We just saw the clip of Senator Schumer calling for accountability.

While over the last few years we've seen that congressional Democrats are very good at being outraged and calling for accountability, not so good at actually getting it. It took them over two years to get testimony from Don McGahn.

Would the attorney general or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein not have known about this? It strains credulity in my experience at the Justice Department, when you have an investigation this large that's touching on members of Congress, White House counsel.

At some point, somebody has to have notified somebody higher up the chain in DOJ. This is one of the big questions we need an answer to.

WHITFIELD: Right. And then, if Schumer does get his wish granted, and there is a request being made of Barr or even Sessions to testify, they don't have to, do they? They're private citizens now. They can say no or just not show up?

HONIG: Well, it's a complicated question of the power of a congressional subpoena, right? They don't have to comply and cooperate with the Justice Department inspector general the way they would if they still worked at the Justice Department. However, Congress has the ability to subpoena private individuals, we see people who are industry leaders and others who are called to testify before Congress.

WHITFIELD: They can say no.

HONIG: We just saw -- they can say no. But then it's a question of how strongly is Congress willing to go to courts to fight for it?

Because the next step, if you get rejected as Congress, you need to go into the courts and ask the courts to order these people to testify. That's the fight that I want to see if Congress is willing to have if they say no.

WHITFIELD: Uh-huh, okay. We shall see.

Elie Honig, good to see you. Thank you so much.

HONIG: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: New details are emerging about the terrifying collapse of a soccer player during the Euro 2020 match. When we come back, more on what happened and just how serious it really was.

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[14:53:16]

WHITFIELD: New information about just how serious things were for Denmark's soccer star Christian Eriksen who collapsed on the field in the middle of the Euro 2020 match yesterday.

Well, it turns out 29-year-old Eriksen suffered cardiac arrest on the field. He is now in stable condition. But at the time of his collapse, there was no time to spare, and he was given CPR right there on the spot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MORTEN BOESEN, DENMARK'S TEAM DOCTOR: What should I say? He was -- he was gone. And we did cardiac resuscitation.

And it was cardiac arrest. How close were we? I don't know. We got him back. After one defib. So that's quite fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Amazing. You heard that, I mean, he was gone, got him back.

Eriksen remains hospitalized right now.

Escape, the Florida beach crowds by heading inland into the Florida panhandle. There you'll find water falls, caverns, and hidden springs, just "Off the Beaten Path".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So right now, we're at Falling Waters State Park, which is really exciting. I've never been here before.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're here to see the falling waters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The falling waters. There's swimming and camping and picnicking. Just kind of enjoying an entire outdoors experience.

DOROTHY ODOM, LOCAL HISTORIAN: There's another state park here in the area, Florida Caverns State Park. They have a half mile tour through the caverns. While you're there, you can appreciate 68 degree temperature, constant. If it's a hot summer day, it's the place to be.

[14:55:02]

UNIDENTIFIED KIDS: Welcome to Cypress Spring!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, if you come to the Florida panhandle this is a must see. Right behind me, you can see the water bubbling up. Cypress Spring pumps out about 90 cubic feet per minute, enough to fill four Olympic sized swimming pools in an hour. The water temperature is 68 to 70 degrees year round.

There's snorkeling. There's also a tunnel you can swim down. If you're brave enough, there's a rope swing out here.

The only way you can get to Cypress Springs is paddling down Holmes Creek but that keeps it secluded. You're surrounded by nature, which I love. It's just my favorite place in the world to be.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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