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Mitch Landrieu, White House Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator, Discusses Economy, Inflation, Gas Prices; U.S. Trying To Salvage Ukrainian Grain As Russia Blocks Exports; Biden Admin To Send New Rockets, Munitions To Ukraine; Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) Discusses Guns, Mass Shootings, Gun Reform; Soon, Verdict To Be Read In Depp vs. Heard Defamation Trial. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired June 01, 2022 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
MITCH LANDRIEU, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN & WHITE HOUSE INFRASTRUCTURE IMPLEMENTATION COORDINATOR: The president understands the pain parents have, whether it's related to baby formula or whether it's related to the prices of gas.
He says this all the time, that when he was a kid, if the price of gas went up, they felt it at the kitchen table like all of us do.
And that's why --
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: We certainly heard that from the president.
(CROSSTALK)
LANDRIEU: -- the economy is -- as it has.
BLACKWELL: I understand that. But Larry Summers says that's exactly the type of -- those variables are what make a recession likely coming down the road.
Let me ask about the president's plan moving forward, right? We read his plan that was published in the "Wall Street Journal," in which he said essentially let the Fed handle it.
He's going to make sure that they're independent, which is essentially their job to slow inflation or control as much as they can inflation, and then ask the Congress to pass legislation.
Is there anything else that this president can do unilaterally?
LANDRIEU: Well, first of all, you might recall that Larry Summers also agrees that the Fed is independent and we need to them do their job. All the economists are going to argue about what that is.
But the president expects them to do what is necessary to bring inflation down. And we hope that they do sooner rather than later.
But the president has already enacted a massive piece of legislation called the Infrastructure Act, which is designed to actually help rebuild the supply chains and to fix the rails and to fix the roads and to fix the air and to fix the water.
On top of that, he released product from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to bring down gas prices.
And then, yes, he is, in fact, calling on Congress to pass legislation -
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: That certainly didn't bring down gas prices.
I mean, he certainly --
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: -- announced that release. But, today, gas is $4.67 a gallon.
LANDRIEU: But, Victor, you know, the president himself doesn't control the price of gas. You asked whether or not there was anything in his power that he can do.
And he --
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: Certainly, he does not control the price of gas.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: But the president said that releasing from the --
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: -- strategic reserve would bring down the price of gas. And all we've seen since then was a series of record highs.
LANDRIEU: It's clearly not -- it's clearly not the only factor in bringing down gas. But you asked what he could do. He did what he could do.
He also is asking Congress to reduce the costs on American citizens for childcare, for prescription drugs, for insulin, to make sure that we have credits so we can manufacture things back.
Just today, the president announced that we created 545,000 manufacturing jobs.
So what we're doing is moving from explosive growth to stable growth. And we have to manage it. This is not an easy ship to right. And you don't get to necessarily say how high the waves are going to be.
You can say how strong you're going to be. And I think we feel like we're in a good position to weather what's going to be a very difficult storm.
Nobody has disagreed with the fact that we're in treacherous waters right now. Omicron has made everybody sick. Putin's war in the Ukraine has made everybody really -- put us in a dangerous situation.
And we're going to do everything we can to make sure that we stabilize this for the American people.
BLACKWELL: Understood.
LANDRIEU: And that's what the president and our team are doing.
BLACKWELL: Mitch Landrieu, thank you.
LANDRIEU: Thank you so much.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Well, President Biden says the U.S. will provide the most advanced weapons yet to Ukraine. And Secretary of State Tony Blinken gives a new timeline of the war.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:37:53]
BLACKWELL: President Biden will announce a new $700 million security assistance package for Ukraine. Now that will include more advanced rocket systems and munitions as well as more rounds, helicopters, and tactical vehicles.
CAMEROTA: In a "New York Times" op-ed, the president made clear America's goal.
Quote, "We want to see a democratic, independent, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine with the means to deter and defend itself against further aggression."
CNN national security correspondent, Kylie Atwood, joins us now.
Kyle, you also have some new reporting about the grain supplies. As we know, Russia's been blocking the Ukrainian exports.
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Biden administration officials are working behind the scenes to try and get temporary storage containers for these grains and for agricultural products in Ukraine into the country.
So that, when they establish these over land routes from Ukraine to neighboring countries, they're able to quickly put the Ukrainian grain into these bags or into these boxes and get them quickly out of the country.
It will also help for this year's crop because most of the storage facilities in Ukraine are nearing capacity. So in an effort to try and salvage the grain from this year, they want to provide them with some of these temporary solutions. And of course, this comes as the administration is also looking at
longer term efforts that they can employ to try and essentially blunt the impact that the war in Ukraine is having on this global food crisis.
Things like how they could incentivize American farmers to produce more grain in next year's harvest or how they could teach other countries to use fertilizer more effectively so they are less reliant on Ukrainian grain and are able to grow more on their own.
So these are altogether not going to create a solution to this crisis, to these millions of tons of grain that aren't getting out of the country, but the Biden administration is looking to blunt the impact of this.
It's yet to be determined how effective these steps are going to be.
And we should note, of course, that this comes as the Biden administration announced just this week $700 million in additional security assistance to Ukraine with these advanced rocket systems that they will be sending.
[14:40:08]
And listen to what the secretary of state said earlier today when talking about the motivation for sending this additional security assistance to the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: What we are working to do -- and the secretary-general said this very eloquently -- is to make sure that the Ukrainians have in hand what they need to defend against this aggression, to repel it, to push it back.
And as well -- and as a result, to make sure that they have the strongest possible hand at any negotiating table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ATWOOD: Now, the secretary of state also said that the expectation is that this conflict is going to go on for months and months more because there's no signal of Russia letting up anytime soon.
But he also said that a diplomatic solution is the only way out here. But it is yet to be determined when that will be an option -- guys?
BLACKWELL: All right, at the State Department for us, Kylie Atwood, thank you.
Mental health, too few armed guards. Some Republican lawmakers are blaming everything but guns in the wake of the Uvalde massacre. We'll ask a Texas GOP congresswoman about that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:45:31]
CAMEROTA: Today, Texas Governor Greg Abbott requested that a special legislative committee convene to offer solutions in the wake of the Uvalde shooting.
The governor wants lawmakers to discuss, quote, "school safety, mental health, social media, police training, and firearm safety."
And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell just announced he will push Republicans to make changes without, quote, "betraying the Second Amendment."
With us now is Republican congresswoman from Texas, Beth Van Duyne.
Congresswoman, thanks so much for the time. Thanks for being here.
Here's what the Democrats in your state are proposing to keep people safe:
Raise the minimum age to purchase a firearm to 21. Require universal background checks for all gun sales. Implement Red Flag laws. Regulate civilian ownership of those high-capacity magazines. And requiring a cooling off or a waiting period for all gun sales.
Can you support any of those in Congress?
REP. BETH VAN DUYNE (R-TX): I mean, I think what we've seen is, you know, over and over and over again these laws haven't worked.
We've got protocols in place. And what failed us here was lack of following the protocols. What we have seen is best practices that were ignored.
Looking at having a school resource officer at that school armed and ready to confront the assailant first thing before the shooter was ever allowed into the school, into a classroom, in front of a child would have been the number-one thing to have prevented this.
But in our quest to find solutions, I think what we're failing to do is actually blame the shooter. And we have done that over and over again, especially in our large cities.
And the lack of prosecutors actually going up against and actually filing charges against violent offenders and criminals.
My focus on this --
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: Hold on. Let me just get into one thing there because, obviously, there are lots of different factors that go into any school shooting. But there's one common denominator and that's the gun.
So is there anything that you would accept in terms of access to guns?
VAN DUYNE: Yes, I think there's more than just that one common denominator. I think you've got evil people committing crimes.
You know, I would say that gun, in many situations, is used to save lives, to prevent more damage.
You know, there was a woman in San Antonio recently, in the last couple of weeks, who was able to use a gun to be able to protect herself from a burglar breaking into a house. She had three children.
CAMEROTA: Yes. But, Congresswoman, I have to stop you there. Because in terms of school shootings, it hasn't worked.
There are school resource officers. There have been at very high- profile school shootings. There was one in Uvalde, who just wasn't on campus. There was one in Parkland who was on campus. There were two --
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: Hold on. There were two in Columbine. Buffalo had an armed security officer.
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: The point is, Congresswoman --
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: Hold on, Congresswoman. Let me just ask the question and then you can answer. Hold on, Congresswoman.
The point is they can't protect every single entrance and exit. They just can't. They've tried.
VAN DUYNE: Well, I think, one, if you had had one exit -- which you had one entrance, multiple exits, but one entrance in that school, we don't know whether or not that would have worked. It has worked at other schools.
There was not a student -- a school resource officer at that school. And that was a problem. There was not one there to confront the gunman when they came in. Those protocols need to be followed.
We could add Red Flag laws, but, as was shown in Buffalo, they don't work.
We can have background checks. But if we have prosecutors who are unwilling to actually prosecute criminals and put that in a database, no background check would work.
In this example alone, in Uvalde, there was a background check that was put on. It didn't work. Why?
CAMEROTA: Because he had just turned 18, and so everything is scrubbed from a minor's record. So obviously, that part is not working. There's a way to fix that.
(CROSSTALK) CAMEROTA: Hold on. I just want to get your point on this --
VAN DUYNE: No, no --
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: Because there is another --
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: Hold on, Congresswoman.
There's another common denominator, and that's teenage boys under 21 having access to A.R.-15 style weapons.
Here they are. Robb Elementary they were 18. Buffalo supermarket, 18. Oxford High School, he was 15. Gilroy Garlic Festival, 19. Marjory Stoneman Douglas, 19. Sante Fe, in your state, 17. Sandy Hook, 20. Columbine High. How about -- they were 17 and 18.
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: How about raising the age of purchase to 21?
VAN DUYNE: You want me to -- do you want me to answer the question?
CAMEROTA: Please.
VAN DUYNE: I'm assuming. I will tell you, that's why I've actually introduced legislation that would not scrub an 18-year-old's record.
[14:50:01]
If you have -- if you have kids who right now are being preyed upon by gang members and drug abusers, drug sellers, if you have people who are using kids to commit crimes, or you have kids who are under the age of 17 who have committed violence crimes and been convicted, my bill, H.R. 3290, would prevent them from being able to buy a weapon at 18.
I have introduced this bill. We have not even had a chance to debate it on the floor. I could not get a single Democrat to support that bill.
(CROSSTALK)
VAN DUYNE: But I agree with you, violent offenders, violent criminals need to be prevented from purchasing guns.
If we actually --
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: Yes.
VAN DUYNE: -- work and talk, and that's where we have our conversation, I'm ready. I'm ready. I will take to anybody in the room who's willing to have that conversation.
CAMEROTA: And are you open to having a conversation about increasing the age?
VAN DUYNE: I don't -- why would we -- are we talking about changing the age of adulthood in the United States? Would that have prevented it?
CAMEROTA: Just on gun purchasing. I mean, just, let's say, from 18 to 21 --
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: -- just for A.R.-15 style, you know, semiautomatic rifles, long guns.
VAN DUYNE: We're talking about the people can join the military. We're talking about the age that people can become police officers. At what point does a woman's right to be able to defend herself and her children have an age limit?
You know, when I was mayor of the city of Irving, I had gotten desperate. I'm a single mom with two kids. And I really appreciate the ability of being able to have a weapon in my home to be able to defend myself and my children.
Those are conversations that we have to have. And I'm more than willing to have them.
I think instead of pointing the blame at other people, we need to sit down and figure out where the problem is happening. We're seeing it in urban areas all around the country. We're seeing it where you can't get prosecutors to actually --
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: Yes. But we're also talking about school shootings here.
And by the way, Texas, your state, has the highest number of gun deaths in the country. So obviously, something has to be done in Texas.
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: But, Congresswoman, we do really appreciate your time. We appreciate your sharing your ideas.
VAN DUYNE: Thanks.
CAMEROTA: Thank you very much for coming on.
VAN DUYNE: I appreciate your time.
BLACKWELL: The verdict in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial will be heard in a few minutes from now. Heard has just entered the courtroom. Johnny Depp will not be there. His attorney says he is working, performing with the band in the U.K.
We'll bring you the reading of the verdict, live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:56:11]
BLACKWELL: Coming up to the top of the hour now on CNN NEWSROOM. Good to have you with us. I'm Victor Blackwell.
CAMEROTA: And I'm Alisyn Camerota.
Any moment now, the verdict in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial will be read.
BLACKWELL: Depp sued his ex-wife for $50 million. This is over an op- ed she wrote in "The Washington Post" four years ago. Heard countersued for $100 million.
CNN's Jean Casarez is with us now.
First, just lay out what the claims are here.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a defamation case. And Johnny Depp actually brought this civil case against his ex-wife, Amber Heard because of a 2018 "Washington Post" op-ed where she says that she had to speak out against sexual violence.
And that, two years ago, before that, that she became a public figure and a face of domestic abuse.
It was two years before that that she had gone to court to get an ex parte restraining order against her estranged husband, Johnny Depp, and that hit the headlines everywhere.
The reason, in this trial, that you have heard testimony about their fights, their arguments, alleged domestic violence, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, and financial abuse, is because the credibility of really both parties is at hand here.
Amber Heard's credibility is front and center because she is the one that wrote that op-ed.
And Johnny Depp is saying, it's false what you wrote about me. You have stopped my career. And I have to do something about it because you lied in that op-ed.
And now it's in the hands of the jury to determine if that's so.
CAMEROTA: Jean, but he, Johnny Depp, will not be in the courtroom, you have learned?
CAZAREZ: We have learned, through his spokesperson, that Johnny Depp - and we knew he was in London this weekend. Closing arguments were on Friday. He was in the courtroom. He flew to London after that, and has been performing with Jeff Beck, a very famous guitar player, on stage in London. And we have seen some of the video of the performances.
The trial was supposed to end before Labor Day. That is what the judge told the jury.
But obviously --
BLACKWELL: Memorial Day.
CASAREZ: Memorial Day.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
CASAREZ: But obviously, it went longer than that.
And so because of that, potentially, there were these commitments that are based on contracts, and he is not in the courtroom.
Amber Heard is in the courtroom. And I even saw her sister in the courtroom. So she does have support there.
CAMEROTA: OK, Jean, stay with us.
BLACKWELL: All right, we're expecting this to be read at the top of the hour, just a couple of minutes away.
Until then, let's bring in CNN legal analyst, Joey Jackson, CNN's Chloe Melas, and former L.A. prosecutor, Loni Coombs.
Joey, let me start with you.
This, as Jean laid out, is a defamation case, as much as we learned about the terrible relationship between these two. What's the legal question this jury has to answer?
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So there's a number of legal questions. First of all, on the reset about what is defamation. Defamation is a false statement, could be in writing, a statement generically, writing or, right, a statement this is made, that is injurious to reputation.
So as a practical matter, the jury has to make an assessment in terms of Johnny Depp, first -- then we'll get to Amber Heard -- whether or not that op-ed in 2018 was defamatory. Was it false and was it injurious to reputation?
Throughout the course of the trial, how do you prove that it injured your reputation? You bring in people to discuss where you were in the industry prior to that statement to where you are now. And then you have to assess the causation element.
There was a lot of testimony with respect to his falling in the industry not being attributable to any op-ed, but being attributable to lateness, being attributable to drug use, being attributable to a difficult individual. So the jury has to make that nexus.
The next thing to have to establish, because they're public figures, is what we call actual malice.
[14:59:53]
What does that mean? It means you publish or write something, right, which is actually false. You have knowledge of its falsity. Or you publish it with respect to reckless disregard as to its truth.
