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Benjamin Netanyahu Out As Israeli Prime Minister; Biden Arrives In Brussels For NATO Summit; Interview With John Bolton About President Biden's First International Trip; Bidens Meet With Queen Elizabeth At Windsor Castle; Shootings Across The Country; Unruly Passenger Incidents; CNN Heroes. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired June 13, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:10]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington, and we have breaking news this hour.

It's now official, Benjamin Netanyahu is out as Israeli prime minister.

This was the moment a short time ago when 12 consecutive years of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended. A coalition of smaller parties joined forces against Netanyahu and as expected voted him out by a razor thin margin. On the streets of Jerusalem, there were late- night celebrations after the vote, ushering in the post-Netanyahu era. Supporters of the new incoming government have rallied in recent days with signs reading "Bye-bye, Bibi," using the long-time now former prime minister's nickname.

And let's go straight to Jerusalem right now and CNN's Oren Liebermann.

Oren, we couldn't keep you out of Jerusalem very long. This is definitely the end of an era, isn't it, with Netanyahu being out? But he's not going out quietly at this point.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not at all. In Benjamin Netanyahu's last speech as prime minister just a few hours ago, he spoke obviously mostly in Hebrew, but he had one phrase in English. He said we'll be back soon, referring to his government. He lashed out at his rivals.

After listing his accomplishments after more than 12 years in office and three years before that, he called the government that's replacing him a weak government, a dangerous government for Israel, and then said only he could stand up to the Biden administration when it comes to building the settlements, when it comes to pushing back against a nuclear agreement with Iran.

Then it was Naftali Bennett, sworn in as Israel's new prime minister. He once worked for Netanyahu. He has now replaced him, promising a very different kind of politics, one of unity, one of agreement. He now leads the most diverse coalition in Israel's history and he said he'll work to make that a government that works together to advance the interests of everyone in the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAFTALI BENNETT, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Two times in our history we lost our Jewish home exactly because leaders of the previous generation refused to sit with one another. I am proud to sit with people with different opinions. At the decisive moment, we took responsibility. We took responsibility.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: Shortly after the swearing in of Naftali Bennett as prime minister, he received a congratulatory statement from President Joe Biden. That statement reads in part, "My administration is fully committed to working with the new Israeli government to advance security, stability, and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and people throughout the broader region."

The Foreign minister of Israel, the new one that is, shortly thereafter received a congratulatory message from Secretary of State Blinken and the defense minister here received another congratulatory message from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Those statements coming very soon after the swearing in of the new government. It was a government sworn in by a very thin margin, and that means it will be very difficult to govern especially with Netanyahu as head of the opposition.

And he promises to be a very active head of the opposition, making it difficult for Naftali Bennett as he tries to lead this country, a country that hasn't had a functioning government in quite some time. It's worth looking at Netanyahu, it's worth considering that the end of this era of Netanyahu revolves around former president Donald Trump.

And yet for all the gifts, the political gifts that Trump gave Netanyahu from moving the embassy, from recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, from the Golan Heights and the Abraham Accords, the one thing Trump never gave Netanyahu was an electoral victory. Netanyahu lasted just 144 days after the administration of President Donald Trump. He had a functioning government for exactly zero of those days -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Quite an extraordinary transition, and an historic night in Israel.

Oren Liebermann, watching it all for us. Thanks so much, Oren. We appreciate it.

And this significant shift in power comes as President Biden has just arrived in Brussels for this year's NATO summit. It is the second stop of his first trip abroad as president. And while the goal so far has been about re-establishing America's partnerships, it's now about re- establishing her power.

You see, while the last few days of the G7 summit have been full of elbow bumps, beachside barbecue as a royal pomp and circumstance, Biden even comfortable enough to wear his aviators with the Queen, the president kicked it off a notch before departing England, declaring just days before his upcoming meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, something Biden's predecessor never would.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As I told him when I was running and when I got elected, before I was sworn in, that I was going 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 cyber security 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.

[16:05:02]

He was engaged in those activities. I did respond and made it clear that I'd respond again.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And I want to get straight to CNN's chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins live in Brussels.

Kaitlan, what can you tell us about what has been a very momentous trip so far for President Biden but the big moment everybody is looking to is still to come?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right, Jim. You've seen all these moments so far where he's interacting with these world leaders. People are obviously contrasting it with his predecessor.

And even President Biden during that press conference earlier, his first solo press conference of this trip, acknowledged that yes, he has seen the coverage of people comparing his interactions with the French president, the British prime minister, the German chancellor, with those of former president Trump's.

And of course, they're quite different. You can see it's a lot more back slapping, handshaking than the crossed arms and looks of disapproval that Trump often got at these kinds of summits. And you heard President Biden make an allusion to that earlier saying that President Trump believed it was a racket about protection. That's how he described NATO. Of course, you often saw Trump described NATO as obsolete.

We're not expecting Biden to do that. Quite the opposite, while he is here in Brussels. But I do think you're right, that everyone is looking ahead to what is going to happen in that sit-down with the Russian president. And President Biden himself was even kind of bracing himself for it earlier, talking about what it's going to look like, saying yes, he's looked into these allegations of election interference and ransomware. And he thinks Russia is responsible.

And so that raises the big question about why are they not having a joint press conference at the end of that sit-down, and this is his explanation for why they're not doing so earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: This is not a contest about who can do it 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 are with Russia. But I don't want to get into being diverted by, did they shake hands, how far did they -- who talked the most and the rest. Now he can say what he said the meeting was about, and I will say what I think the meeting was about. That's how I'm going to end it.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And Jim, one thing that the president did say he agreed with Putin on during that press conference is that U.S.-Russia relations are at an all-time low, but whether or not that's going to change just because they sit down with one another seems unlikely. But he seemed to implying that he thinks Russia has bitten more than they could chew and they're more willing to come to the table than it seems from Putin's public comments.

ACOSTA: Yes. That's Euro lovefest is about to get very icy for Joe Biden when he meets with Vladimir Putin.

All right, Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much.

As Kaitlan mentioned, Biden's decision not to hold a joint press conference comes three years after President Trump stood on a stage next to Vladimir Putin and said this about election interference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: President Putin, he just said it's not Russia. I will say this. I don't see any reason why it would be.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And President Biden has already made clear he has a decidedly different take on the Russian leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS HOST: So you know Vladimir Putin. Do you think he's a killer?

BIDEN: Yes. I do.

BILL O'REILLY, FORMER FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Putin is a killer.

TRUMP: There are a lot of killers. We got a lot of killers. Why, you think our country is so innocent?

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And joining me now is the former National Security adviser under President Trump, John Bolton. He's also a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

And let me ask you, Ambassador Bolton -- thanks for being with us here on set. Was it a smart move for Joe Biden to deny this joint press conference to Vladimir Putin. Clearly that's something Putin and the Kremlin wanted.

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER UNDER TRUMP: Well, I think Putin can live with that, and I have to say, and I don't think Putin would have come into this joint press conference on horseback or taken his shirt off or anything like that. But I'm not so sure the White House wanted Biden on stage next to Putin regardless of what they said.

ACOSTA: Yes. And Putin has been throwing his weight around on the world stage for years now, especially in meetings with foreign leaders. There is that famous story, we're showing it on screen now, of Putin bringing a dog to a meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel as an intimidation tactic. He's really a professional troller.

What would you be advising Joe Biden to do right now, to say right out of the gate when he meets with Putin?

BOLTON: Well, I think he needs obviously to make it clear that things like interference in our election are completely unacceptable. That would distinguish him from Trump right at the start. But honestly I think this meeting is premature. I don't think you need to have a meeting like this for Biden to tell him everything that he objects to in Russia's conduct. I don't know that Biden has a strategy for going into it.

He's not Donald Trump. We understand that. And I think he's done a lot on the trip to repair the damage that Trump did to our country's reputation internationally. That wasn't hard. But Putin is a different story. And I think Putin will have an agenda. I think he's already starting to lay out some things that he wants to see how Biden responds. Biden has been very closed mouth about it. I think that's appropriate. But I'm worried there is really no there-there for Biden at this meeting.

[16:10:04]

ACOSTA: And I want to ask you about Biden's debut on the world stage we were just talking about a few moments ago. A lot of people took note of the body language, how he was interacting with some of these foreign leaders. Pretty chummy with Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel. And then contrast that with Donald Trump when he was meeting with the same foreign leaders.

There's Angela Merkel standing over the desk. And there you are in that picture, Ambassador Bolton. Quite the contrast.

BOLTON: Yes. Well, Trump seemed to have trouble getting along with allies. He seemed to enjoy meeting with authoritarian figures. In fact, in 2018 in a sequence much like Biden's trip, a NATO meeting, meetings in Britain and then the Helsinki summit, as Trump was leaving the White House to get on Marine One, he said, I think the meeting with Putin will be the easiest of all, who would have thunk that?

And my response was, there's only one person in America who would think that, and that's Donald Trump. So what Biden has done is return normalcy to diplomacy with our allies. That's a good thing, but let's face it, that's a pretty low bar.

ACOSTA: Yes. And Trump just the other day was saying that he still values Vladimir Putin's assessment of things over the U.S. intelligence community.

BOLTON: Look, Trump has dug in on these things. I think he's increasingly irrelevant. And I think that's the most important thing for our friends and allies, and our adversaries to understand. Trump was an aberration. He represented only Donald Trump. He did not represent tendency in American foreign policy or politics. And I think increasingly we will see that.

ACOSTA: Let me ask you, we've learned that under President Trump the Department of Justice subpoenaed Apple for data from Trump's White House counsel Don McGahn and his wife. Pretty startling revelation coming this afternoon. We don't know the motivation but this DOJ move also happened around the time that Trump was unhappy with McGahn about the Mueller investigation. What's your view on this?

BOLTON: Yes. I haven't gotten any calls from Apple yet. So I'm still waiting to see. But I think I'm certainly prepared to believe the worst that Trump used the Justice Department for his own political purposes. I've experienced that myself. I definitely think we need to get to the bottom of it.

I would say, though, that a circus on Capitol Hill and committee hearings that are more political theater than real efforts to get to the bottom of this are not a good idea at this point. I think the department's inspector general who has a reputation for real independence. He's been asked to look at it. I hope he'll do it and I hope he'll do it quickly.

ACOSTA: Let me ask you, though. What would your reaction be if you were to get that call from Apple?

BOLTON: I wouldn't be the least surprised.

ACOSTA: But is -- do you view that as an invasion of your privacy or the privacy of, say, for example, these members of Congress? I mean, you know all too well -- you're certainly not in the same camp ideologically as Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff. But to have a Justice Department under one administration investigating and subpoenaing records for critics up on Capitol Hill.

BOLTON: Well, as I say, look --

ACOSTA: What do you think of that?

BOLTON: I'm prepared to believe the worst. I think we're operating in a --

ACOSTA: And what does that -- what does that mean, the worst? The worst mean --

BOLTON: That Trump would attempt to do things for political purposes and subvert the course of justice. But we're still operating in a large fact vacuum here. And I think until we get more it would be better and more prudent looking ahead to try and wait for that IG investigation.

ACOSTA: And just to button that up, how high does the bar have to be, do you think, to investigate members of Congress who have been your critics in that fashion?

BOLTON: Well, look -- yes, look, I was an assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice under Ronald Reagan. I was head of the civil division. Everybody in the Department of Justice understands that when you begin to look at something members of Congress does, it's a very, very serious issue. There are speech or debate clause issues, there are separation of powers issues.

And certainly, the norm at that time was nothing like that was done without extraordinarily good reason and with high level authority. We don't know at this point if those hurdles were met. We have denials of knowledge by Barr and Rosenstein, Jeff Sessions I think was recused, if they were Russia related. So the obvious people that everybody now wants to subpoena to Congress say they don't know anything about it. It's just an example of how little we really know at this point.

ACOSTA: And very quickly, Netanyahu out as prime minister. Is this a challenge? Is this an opportunity? What is this for the Biden White House to have Naftali Bennett come in as the new prime minister?

BOLTON: Well, I think it's going to be hard for the administration. I think it's also going to be hard in Israel. This coalition of which won very narrowly is bound together by a profound unity on getting rid of Bibi Netanyahu. OK, so now they accomplished that, although I would say Netanyahu is out, but not down. We're going the see more of him. So the coalition is going to confront a number of very serious challenges, not least of which is if the U.S. goes back into the Iran nuclear deal.

[16:15:03]

The two key leaders, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid of the center left party, have very different views about how to act, and yet they've got to try and reconcile that. So it's going to -- the hard drama I think will be in Israel with this diverse coalition trying to work together.

ACOSTA: Yes. Netanyahu may not be totally out of this.

BOLTON: Definitely not.

ACOSTA: John Bolton, former ambassador, former National Security adviser, thank you very much.

Don't forget to check out Bolton's book if you haven't done that yet.

And coming up a royal welcome, all the pomp and circumstance surrounding President Biden's visit to see Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Well, in line with protocol, he did not bow but President Biden did wear those iconic aviator sunglasses today when he and First Lady Jill Biden met Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle before sitting down for tea with Her Majesty.

[16:20:01]

Biden surveyed the red-suited, bare skin, hatted guardsmen after listening to the "Star Spangled Banner." Here's how he described his meeting with the Queen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: She was extremely gracious. It's not surprising. We had a great talk. She wanted to know what the two meters that I'm about to meet with, Mr. Vladimir Putin, and she wanted to know about Xi Jinping. And we had a long talk. And she was very generous. Very -- I don't think she'd be insulted but I will say she reminded me of my mother, in terms the look of her, and, you know, just the generosity.

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

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What is the castle like? Americans never go there. What's it like?

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? I said, well, it's just magnificent but there'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 in the other end.

(LAUGHTER)

BIDEN: So, anyway, she was very gracious.

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

BIDEN: Yes.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: All right. CNN White House correspondent Kate Bennett and royal historian Ed Owens join us.

What an exciting day for the Bidens, Kate. Bidens as authentic as ever. In all of those interactions.

KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I know. I said awkward because he's comparing the Queen to his mother, which is lovely but --

ACOSTA: I think that's a compliment. BENNETT: I do. I do, too.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BENNETT: And there's an emotional enthusiasm about the Bidens that I think we're still maybe getting comfortable with on a larger basis as our president and our first lady. But I don't think we'll hear from the palace a readout as extensive or as personal or intimate as that one was.

I think that's pretty all we're going to get. The tea with the Queen is a very -- for the British side, for her side, it's very intimate experience. It's allowing people into Windsor, at sitting downs, having a one-on-one, and those pleasantries are exchanged. And usually the palace is pretty tightlipped about it.

ACOSTA: Yes. Ed, we saw Biden there on the aviator sunglasses addressing the Queen. You know, I think it just sort of caps off what has been kind of a Euro love fest for President Biden. I've talked to a senior European official who was just about giddy about the whole trip.

What is your sense of how Biden handled all of this?

ED OWENS, ROYAL HISTORIAN: I think it's gone down very well, and looking very cool as you note in the aviator sunglasses. I think it's been a really important three days. This has been President Biden, if not reinvigorating those bonds with the Western democracies that have been so key over the last sort of 78 years, as you say, it's something of a sort of Euro love fest. The British doing the pomp and circumstances as well as they do, really putting on a show to sort of bring this really interesting weekend to a close.

ACOSTA: And Kate, the protocol seemed a little different this time around from when Biden's predecessor met the Queen. So many recall the infamous video of Trump accidentally walking in front of the Queen. Biden surveyed the guard alone. It's interesting, as John Bolton was leaving the set here, he was offering his take on why that's the case.

Do we know why this is? Why Joe Biden did this today?

BENNETT: There's no official word yet of why President Biden was the only one walking. You know, some people speculate it's because Prince Philip passed away and he's so enjoyed doing that, and this is homage to sort of the empty chair so to speak, or perhaps the Queen wanted to stay and have President Biden have that moment to himself.

Yes, I mean, protocol is always a little bit different. You know, President Trump -- you're not supposed to have your back to the Queen, and that's what happened there during that walk. But yes, certainly, this felt a little more -- now we have to remember, too, they met in person the other day at the G7, at this cocktail reception that was a very sort of soft power diplomacy moment for the royal family, using their influence and also, you know, their -- all their senior royal officials. So they had already met a couple of days ago. So this was sort of a

formality. But yes, it was interesting. And the aviators, hey, listen, I don't think it's a big deal. He wears them all the time. He took them off after the anthem and to walk around and see the troops.

ACOSTA: Yes. A little "Top Gun" in the U.K., Ed. Biden says the Queen specifically asked about his upcoming meetings with Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping. So there was some substance to these discussions.

I think there always is with Queen Elizabeth II. She is extremely politically savvy and smart. She's been on the throne for almost 70 years. You know, she's seen lots of politicians come and go.

ACOSTA: Right.

OWENS: But she keeps abreast of upcoming affairs. She's very interested in what's going on both in the U.K. but also in the U.S. and in Europe. Very interested I'm sure to see what comes of the forthcoming meetings with the Chinese president but also Vladimir Putin. She'll be interested to see how things develop given the U.S. is trying to sort of transform the global order at the moment and stand up to both individuals.

[16:25:09]

ACOSTA: And I kind of wonder if we buried the lede a little bit here. I mean, President Biden did invite the Queen to the White House. That is pretty significant.

Ed, do you think that could happen? Do you think she would say yes?

OWENS: It's unlikely because the modern protocol is that the Queen will never again actually leave the U.K. to travel aboard. The main concern is that she might travel abroad for an international trip and unfortunately not then come back because she'd die abroad.

So there's protocol dictates now that the Queen doesn't travel. But that's not to say that one of her representatives, maybe her heir Prince Charles does some travel act to the USA on her behalf and meet President Biden at the White House.

ACOSTA: That would be fascinating. Kate, we need a quick fact check on something when President Biden met with Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, he gave him an American-made bike that costs thousands of dollars and there are reports that are in return Biden got a Wikipedia printout of Frederick Douglass? What is going on? Is any of that true?

BENNETT: OK. So somewhat true. And let's remember, the presidential gifts are important. The Resolute Desk came from Queen Victoria.

ACOSTA: That's right.

BENNETT: For Rutherford B. Hayes.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BENNETT: But, no, the bike was expensive, true, but the photograph was not from Wikipedia. They got a print of it from the actual photographer who took a picture of this Frederick Douglass mural. So although it was a print in a frame, it wasn't off of Wikipedia.

Now keep in mind, the threshold for gifts to be received by an American president is as of 2020 $415. So what the Brits would -- Johnson could have been doing is giving a gift that came in under that so it didn't have to go to the archives so that he could hang it at the White House.

So there's a little wiggle room for why that gift may have been in the hundreds of dollars and not the thousands like the bicycle, which if Johnson wants to keep he'll have to pay the difference because the cap there is $200.

ACOSTA: Interesting.

BENNETT: So he would have to pay, you know, substantially.

ACOSTA: Even with the exchange rate.

BENNETT: Even with the --

(LAUGHTER)

BENNETT: Don't make me do math, Jim.

ACOSTA: I won't make you do that.

BENNETT: But, yes, that would be the case.

ACOSTA: We know how much Joe Biden loves his biking.

All right, Kate Bennett, Ed Owens, thank you so much. Great discussion.

I think the Queen should make an exception. Come to Washington. We'll bring here by the studio here. We'll have a blast. It'd be great.

All right. Next to Austin, Texas, police are searching for a second gunman in a mass shooting there. Details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:31:56]

ACOSTA: This weekend, at least eight people have been killed and another 48 have been injured in mass shootings across the country. In Texas, a search is underway for a second gunman in Saturday's mass shooting that wounded 14 people in downtown Austin. Police say they've got one suspect in custody.

Let's go to CNN's Ed Lavandera. He's on the ground for us in Austin. Ed, what's the latest on this investigation? It just sounds like a wild scene down there in downtown.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. We're in the heart of the iconic Sixth Street entertainment district in downtown Austin. This is where the shooting erupted early Saturday morning in a situation that police here in Austin say was a feud between two different people. And that they do not believe that many of the people that were wounded were targeted specifically. But that this was an altercation that erupted between two people.

We don't have much information. Austin police are -- we've reached out to them multiple times throughout the day today. Have not heard back on exactly where this investigation stands, but we understand one suspect has been arrested. But we don't have many details on who that person is.

And we were told yesterday, by the mayor of Austin, that police were closing in on the second person. But still no announcement yet from Austin police that that second person has been taken into custody.

But it was a chaotic scene, Jim. There was a motorcycle biker rally here this weekend so the street was filled with people. Witnesses say that after the shots erupted, it was chaotic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOAH RAMIREZ: And I just recall seeing, you know, a few bodies on the floor. Police officers running with their guns drawn. People running and fleeing the scene. It just immediately turned into, what do we do next? Where do we go? What's the next step from here? Because we're obviously involved in an active shooter situation directly below us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And, Jim, in all of that chaos, the suspects were able to get away from the scene. And that has what -- has led to authorities going through the businesses and the bars here, looking at surveillance video, trying to get as much information as they can.

But the crazy thing here today, Jim, is that it is business as usual as if nothing happened -- Jim.

ACOSTA: That's very disturbing. It just sounds like something out of the Wild West in Austin, Ed Lavandera. And it's just been like that every weekend over the last several months in this country. Like the Wild West with mass shooting after mass shooting. Ed Lavandera, thank you so much.

Coming up, passengers behaving badly. A shocking number of mid-air incidents, just as more people start traveling again.

[16:34:33]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: It's a situation you hope you never find yourself in. But as more people return to air travel, unruly passengers are increasingly becoming a problem on flights. Most recently, on Friday, when an off- duty Delta Airlines flight attendant apparently commandeered the intercom on a packed Atlanta-bound flight. That led to a scuffle that forced the plane to divert and land in Oklahoma City.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is following this for us. Polo, this is becoming part of the trend of, really, what's becoming a major problem for the airlines, and a scary one for sure.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, Jim, just consider this. Our colleague, Pete Mantean, reported on this same issue less than a week ago after federal officials reported about 2,500 different incidents, involving unruly passengers. That figure has gone up now by about 400 since then. So, that's certainly concerning here, and it's at least a telling number.

Now, when it comes to why this is happening, though it doesn't apply to this very latest incident, that Friday flight, it turns out that many of these disturbances start as mask disputes.

(voice-over): It's shaping up to be a rough summer this the skies. A Friday Atlantic-bound Delta Airlines flight became the latest to be interrupted by an unruly passenger. That problem passenger was one of the airlines own flight attendants flighting off duty at the time, according to a Delta spokesman. Witnesses on board reported he commandeered the aircraft's intercom and told them to prepare to use their oxygen masks, triggering a clash between him, the crew and some of his fellow passengers.

[16:40:02]

SANDOVAL: One witness told CNN he feared the worst during the very intense encounter.

BENJAMIN CURLEE: People behind me were saying, oh, that's really bad. I mean, that only happens when the plane goes down. I prayed that God would protect my family in case I was gone.

SANDOVAL: On Thursday night, a separate Delta flight from L.A. to New York was also diverted after what was described by the airline as a customer issue on board.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop this plane.

SANDOVAL: On June 4th, a third Delta flight, this one from L.A. to Nashville, was forced to make an emergency landing, after a passenger tried breaching the cockpit door, according to authorities.

And Delta is not alone. The crews from American and Southwest Airlines have been among those recently to belligerent passengers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to sue you.

SANDOVAL: And in at least on case, physical abuse from troublesome travelers. In May, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration said he's worried, as these kinds of air-rage incidents seem to be repeating themselves. STEVE DICKSON, ADMINISTRATOR, FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: This

dangerous behavior can distract, disrupt, and threaten crew member safety functions. And as a former airline captain, it's extremely concerning to me.

SANDOVAL: A spokesperson for the agency says that it's received at least 2,900 reports of unruly behavior by passengers this year; 2,200 of them have been related to non-compliance with the federal mandate requiring masks on public transportation, planes included. The spike in bad onboard behavior prompted the FAA to extend a zero-tolerance policy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you serious?

SANDOVAL: A spokesperson says enforcement action has been started in over three dozen cases already. The question now, will it get even more unfriendly in the skies with the busy summer travel season on the horizon?

(on camera): So, how busy is it going to get this travel season? Well, U.S. Travel Association estimating that we are likely going to see about 77 percent of Americans take at least one trip this summer. That is up from about 29 percent in 2020, Jim, because pandemic.

Now, when it comes specifically to air travel, you can expect to see at least a 44 percent increase in air travel this year over last. Meaning, Jim, those flights are only going to get fuller.

ACOSTA: Yes. And people need to calm down on these flights. My goodness, that behavior is just out of control. All right, Polo Sandoval, thanks for that. We appreciate it.

And how did America's star scientists become the latest right-wing boogieman? Coming up, Fox goes wall to wall, spinning every word of Anthony Fauci's e-mails.

[16:42:23]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: YouTube has suspended the account of Republican Senator Ron Johnson, after he posted comments about discredited COVID-19 treatments, like hydroxy chloroquine. Johnson, who tested positive for COVID, himself, last fall, has spread anti-vaccine information for months now. And he continues to downplay the urgent need to get Americans vaccinated.

And also in right-wing media, they have a new villain on their hands. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the man who has been a trusted voice for so many amid the global Coronavirus pandemic, has become a punching bag for former President Trump and his allies. One Fox News host going so far as suggesting Fauci should be criminally investigated.

CNN Chief Media Correspondent, "Reliable Sources" anchor, Brian Stelter, joins me now to discuss this. Brian, some of this is just so goofy. But is there a reason why the right-wing media is going after Fauci? Is this just more -- can we gin up outrage for ratings? What's going on?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: It is an amazing thing. It's even like an e-mail scandal, the way we've heard about Hillary Clinton in the past. When I saw a FoxNews.com headline, an opinion headline, that said, arrest Fauci, I thought, something's really gone off the deep end.

ACOSTA: Yes.

STELTER: Here's a look at what has happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSE WATTERS, ANCHOR, FOX NEWS: The Fauci era is officially over.

STELTER (voice-over): Right wing T.V. has cast Dr. Anthony Fauci in the role of villain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, FOX NEWS: Grouchy Fauci.

SEAN HANNITY, ANCHOR, FOX NEWS: Dr. doom and gloom. Dr. flip-flop Fauci.

WATTERS: The Republicans did not select Fauci to be a villain. He selected himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, NEWSMAX T.V.: Fauci is a self-serving bureaucrat who played the game for glory, I guess.

STELTER: GOP lawmakers are echoing the attacks, join the feedback loop in full effect.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, FOX NEWS: It appears that he was -- he was part of the political narrative.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An activist scientist, an arm of a China -- China's propaganda machine.

STELTER: It's as if President Biden is a weak target of the anti- Democrat media, so they are assailing Fauci instead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, NEWSMAX T.V.: Dr. Fauci has been more politician than physician.

STELTER: Fauci's voter registration shows he is affiliated with no party. He's worked for Democratic and Republican presidents. But now, he's become a Republican boogieman. His e-mails are a new excuse. Sean Hannity claiming that Fauci said one thing about the lab leak theory in public and another in private.

HANNITY: These e-mails provide growing evidence. Fauci was warned and Fauci repeatedly, consciously downplayed it repeatedly and was not straight with you, the American people.

STELTER: Routine e-mails portrayed as scandalous. Where have we seen this trick before? Oh, yes, Axios calling Fauci Trump's new Hillary Clinton. A Freedom of Information Act request revealed Fauci's e-mails from March and April 2020.

And one e-mail, out of thousands, showed that an executive with ties to China's Wuhan Institute of Virology thanked Fauci for saying science supports a natural original of the virus. The origin is still being probed by Biden's administration. And Fauci is saying that bad- faith actors are taking his words way out of contest.

ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: -- no way you can misconstrue it however you want. That e-mail was from a person to me saying thank you for whatever it is he thought I said.

[16:50:00]

FAUCI: And I said that I think the most likely origin is a jumping of species. I still do think it is, at the same time as I'm keeping an open mind that it might be a lab leak.

STELTER: Keeping an open mind, what an original concept. These GOP lawmakers' minds are made up as they call for Fauci's resignation, thereby providing more content for GOP T.V.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he should be fired not because I'm -- it's personal. It's because he's a terrible doctor for the American people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Could we see Fauci go?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he should go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dr. Fauci has blood on his hands.

STELTER: But Fauci is not taking it all in silence.

FAUCI: It's very dangerous, Chuck.

STELTER: Fauci asserting that the hits against him are attacks on science.

FAUCI: Because all of the things that I have spoken about, consistently from the very beginning, have been fundamentally based on science. Sometimes those things were inconvenient truths for people, and there was pushback against me.

STELTER: And that, of course, garnered even more scorn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, FOX NEWS: He can speak for himself. He's always got a place on Nicolle Wallace's show, where she'll tell him what a great man he is. Really kind of a hero. He can speak for himself on MSNBC.

STELTER: So, in one America, Fauci is trusted and immortalized. In the other America, he's tarnished, maybe forever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STELTER (live): And this matters. This has concrete consequences. Because if it's Fauci out there promoting the vaccine, some folks are more likely to not listen, to tune it out, to deny reality. This partisanship, this polarization quite sad. Jim, I think part of this is, you know, just an attempt to divert attention from the president -- the former president's failures.

ACOSTA: Exactly.

STELTER: To try to move on from Trump's stories about the pandemic. But there's something else going on here as well. News is iterative. Science and health and medicine are iterative. We learn more as we go along. There was a lot we were told in March of 2020 that was wrong.

And I'm still embarrassed that I was trying to wipe down my groceries, you know, back then when it turns out we didn't need to be doing that. Fauci was trying his best. He made mistakes. So did a lot of other people.

I think there's an attempt, sometimes, to only focus on the biggest mistakes or the worst moments someone like Fauci has had, in order to cast him as a villain. Again, partly to make excuses for the former president. But that's just my take. I bet you have a better answer than me about why this is going on.

ACOSTA: Well, I don't remember Dr. Fauci telling people to inject themselves with disinfectants.

STELTER: No, he didn't do that.

ACOSTA: This sounds like Fauci derangement syndrome. And, you know, they want to blame everybody but Donald Trump. We're about to hit 600,000 Americans dead from the Coronavirus. And you and I both know, Brian, from covering this. Donald Trump was there. It was on his watch when most of those deaths occurred.

And every -- just about every step of the way, he was downplaying the virus saying it was going to go away. I mean, to put that record up against Anthony Fauci, it's just -- there's just no competition there, when it comes to the performance from these two individuals, during that -- during that period. And I think you're right. I think -- I think this is to divert attention away from Donald Trump, just like so many other thing.

STELTER: Right, to rewrite history. It's an attempt to rewrite history. And it might work, only in right-wing corners. Yes.

ACOSTA: Yes, it might work with some. Only if you test positive for gullible. All right, Brian Stelter, thanks so much. We appreciate it. And be sure to check out Brian's book, "Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth." It is on book stands now. And Brian has just done an amazing job with that. Please check it out.

In the meantime, 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 of school or end up in the juvenile justice system. This CNN Hero understands all of this, because he's lived it.

David Flink was diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia at age 11 and struggled throughout school. Now, he's an adult, and he's working to make sure that children like himself don't fall through the cracks of the education system through his non-profit, Eye to Eye.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you get scared during tests or, like, nervous or no?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have anxiety and, like, I shake a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, that happens to me sometimes.

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my shield.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My masterpiece.

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

FLINK: My moment that I am 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.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, Daniel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And to learn David's whole steer and see the magic that happens when children are seen and understood, go to CNNheros.com right now.

[16:54:58]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: $28 million for 11 minds minutes into suborbital space. That sounds like a lot but not for the person who won Saturday's auction for a seat onboard Blue Origin's first crude space flight right alongside billionaire Jeff Bezos.

[17:00:00]

ACOSTA: The Amazon mobile (ph) space venture, Blue Origin, has been awaiting this moment for years.