Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

DOJ Spares Meadows And Scavino From Contempt Charges; Pence Chief Of Staff Alerted Secret Service Ahead Of January 6; Republican Pulls Out His Guns At U.S. Gun-Control Hearing; Queen Elizabeth Skipping Some Platinum Jubilee Celebrations; Prince Harry, Meghan Reunite With Royals At Jubilee Service; Abbott Restarts Production Of Specialty Formulas At Michigan Plant. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired June 04, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Puzzling, that is how the January 6 Committee is describing the Justice Department's decision to not charge two Trump allies who have defied subpoenas during the investigation into the insurrection.

And a late Friday news dump, the DOJ announced that former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and top Trump aide Dan Covino would be spared from prosecution strangely or maybe not so strangely. The move was reported hours after another Trump adviser Peter Navarro was indicted by a grand jury for refusing to cooperate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER NAVARRO, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: These are ultra- veers, unenforceable unlawful subpoenas. And that committee should never have been formed. No American citizen should have to go through what I went through today, who is trying to do the right thing. I'm trying to do my duty to this country. I'm in an untenable position. The constitution is on my side on this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: We'll see about that. Next week, the January 6 committee will begin a month of hearings with the promise of revealing new witnesses and previously unseen documents in the lead up. We're getting a new report courtesy of the New York Times that Chief of Staff to of then- Vice President Mike Pence, Mark Short, were in the Secret Service one day before the insurrection that Trump could publicly turn on Pence and create a security risk for the vice president.

The Secret Service disputes the account and says concerns about violence directed at Pence by the former President's actions were never communicated. Still, the next day after Pence voted or moved to certify the 2020 votes and Trump attacked him on Twitter came this infamous moment.

CNN's Ryan Nobles has more on the latest moves by the Justice Department and what's ahead in the investigation. Ryan. RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jim, this news has to come as a disappointment to the January 6 Select Committee. They had hoped that their criminal contempt referrals of the former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and his deputy Dan Scavino would be prosecuted by the DOJ as a signal to other potential subpoena targets that these subpoenas are serious, and that you need to comply and cooperate in a form and fashion that the committee deems appropriate.

The Department of Justice obviously didn't feel that way. Unlike the other two indictments that they've handed down, one came from Peter Navarro that also came on Friday. The other for Steve Bannon, a former White House adviser turn podcast host who was close to the former President Donald Trump.

The Department of Justice believed that there was at least some level of cooperation with Meadows and Scavino that didn't occur with Navarro and Bannon. And the other important wrinkle to it is that both Meadows and Scavino served at the highest level of the White House and therefore, they did enjoy some executive privilege claims that Bannon, Navarro and other potential subpoenaed targets don't.

Now what does this mean for the investigation? Well, we are likely already to the stage where they were not going to get the information they were looking for, from Meadows and Scavino, at least not in a timely fashion that would help with an investigation that they hope to have wrapped up by the fall. The same goes for Navarro, who will now be facing a criminal prosecution could end up with jail time and a hefty fine if the prosecution is able to win this case.

So what it's going to be about now is that the committee piecing together the information that they know about these particular individuals from other sources, and it's something that committee has worked hard on and they have said they've been successful in that endeavor.

There is of course, a long term situation having to do with the fact that the DOJ refused to move on these subpoenas. Because of course, we still have five members of Congress who have been subpoenaed by the committee, they have not yet handed down a criminal contempt referral, but again, that could complicate those efforts as they move forward.

Now, the committee, of course, has a busy week ahead of them on Thursday to hold their first public hearing since the investigation launched back in the fall. This is where they plan to lay out in specificity what they have uncovered over the course of this more than 10 month investigation, it will kick off a series of hearings that will go out throughout the month of June.

And it could be a very important part in the public effort that this committee has in trying to convince the public that there was a serious problem leading up to end on January 6, and something that needs to be fixed. And then of course, who is responsible for what happened here on January 6, so a lot of work for the committee as the time goes on, Jim. It all really kicks off in earnest on Thursday. Jim. ACOSTA: Ryan, thanks and join me now. Elie Honig, a CNN senior legal analyst and former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Elie, Peter Navarro is indicted but the Department of Justice has declined to charge Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino for failure to cooperate. How do you square that?

[15:05:00]

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Jim, the message here I think from DOJ is decidedly mixed. It's sort of a perfect Rorschach test. You can look at the indictments of Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon before him and say, Well, if you defy a congressional subpoena, you will face criminal charges. On the other hand, I think it's really hard to understand how Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino could blow off subpoenas with no consequences.

So how do you square that? I think it really comes down to two factors. First of all, executive privilege. If you look at the relative claims here, Mark Meadows probably has the best executive privilege claim because he was Chief of Staff. I still don't think it's a good or winning executive privilege claim. But of the four it's the best, and Steve Bannon would have the worst because he wasn't in the executive branch at all.

Scavino and Navarro, it's sort of hard to differentiate. Navarro was out there talking about these communications publicly, which may have been a waiver. The other basis that you could have to distinguish these guys is cooperation.

Look, Meadows partially cooperated until he didn't, and Scavino, his lawyers at least reportedly went through some motions of negotiating with the committee, whereas Navarro and Steve Bannon completely defied the committee. But if DOJ is giving people credit for pretending to cooperate, or partially cooperating, like Mark Meadows, I really disagree with that. And I think it sets a terrible precedent.

ACOSTA: Right, and right after Navarro's indictment, you know, there were members of Congress on the Republican side who were irate about this. Louie Gohmert, Republican congressman from Texas, he's a big lie proponent went on TV and made this bizarre complaint, let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LOUIE GOHMERT (R-TX): It actually puts an exclamation point on the fact that we have a two-tiered justice system. If you're a Republican, you can't even lie to Congress, or lie to an FBI agent. They're coming after you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yes, I mean, you know, we shouldn't have to remind our viewers but let's go ahead. It's illegal for anyone, Republican or Democrat to lie to the Congress to lie to the FBI. I guess this is Washington. So I suppose some are just used to that tradition here.

But you know, Peter Navarro told the judge, Elie, that he wanted to represent himself. There's that old expression about having a fool for a client. I suppose that's where we are right now.

HONIG: Yes, it's a horrible idea. For all the reasons you might imagine starting with the fact that Peter Navarro just doesn't have any idea what he's doing in court. I mean, look, I'm a lawyer, maybe I'm biased, you do have to go to law school to have some idea what you're doing. What Peter Navarro started filing motions last week, the judge rejected them because they were nonsense. They were gibberish.

So Peter Navarro clearly plans to turn this into some sort of circus, some sort of showcase for himself. But I'll tell you what, ultimately, Jim, he will face a criminal jury. And if they find him guilty, he will go to prison. That is not negotiable. No judge can get him out of that. He will go to prison for at least one month if he is convicted here. So there are real consequences.

ACOSTA: And let's look at the fascinating exclusive from our Jamie Gangel. Look at these text messages that were turned over by Mark Meadows to the January 6 committee. The big takeaway is that more than 20 prominent Republicans and allies of the president at the time pleaded for him to call things off call off the mob that day.

Here are some examples. Foxes' Laura Ingraham. Hey, Mark, the President needs to tell people in the capitol go home. Mick Mulvaney, Mark you need to stop this now. Can I do anything to help? Congressman Will Timmons, the President needs to stop this ASAP. Even Donald Trump Jr. He's got to condemn this ASAP. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough. And Reince Priebus who was the chief of staff at one time, tell them to go home.

How significant are these messages? Do you think, I mean, it is perplexing that Meadows, you know, fought cooperation all this time, and yet we have this treasure trove of text messages.

HONIG: Yes, Jim, that's the first thing. These are reminders that Mark Meadows was the conduit to Donald Trump. Not surprisingly, he was the chief of staff but it really underscores how important it is that Mark Meadows has bailed out of these proceedings and there will be no consequences.

These messages show us that everybody in power around Donald Trump, family members, congressional leaders understood right away. The rioters were acting for Donald Trump and Donald Trump was the only person capable of calling them off. And that makes Donald Trump's inaction his silence during those key 187 minutes. That makes his silence his inaction. Even more important, even more inexplicable, it really goes to his state of mind.

We've heard reporting from Stephanie Grisham said that Donald Trump was gleeful at what he saw. Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican said he heard from senior White House officials that Donald Trump was thrilled with what he saw. So we're going to really dig into this, I think at these hearings next week.

ACOSTA: Yes, absolutely. And it also goes to those lies that we were told after January 6 by Trump allies, Trump associates that it was Antifa that it was, you know, it was an FBI plot and so on, and yet everybody who was in the know, knew exactly who to go to, to call it all off. Elie Honig, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

[15:10:00]

A new details about what the Secret Service was told ahead of the January 6 insurrection and its mob chance of hey Mike Pence. According to The New York Times, the vice president's chief of staff, Mark Short, warn Pence's lead Secret Service agent, on January 5th, Donald Trump was going to turn against the vice president of publicly and there could be a security risk to Pence because of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAGGIE HABERMAN, NEW YORK TIMES SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: The President was going to turn on Pence and that, you know, they might have a security risk. Short, as I understand it, did not have a sense of what that threat could look like. I don't believe based on my reporting, that he envisioned, you know, what we saw on January 6.

The way we saw it, but what he did realize is that the former president had supporters who were very reactive to him, who basically acted, you know, responded to things he would say, and he could see, you know, one person, two people, three people, you know, several people doing something that could be problematic, safety wise for the vice president just based on this pressure that the former president was exerting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And again, the Secret Service disputes this account, insisting that concerns about violence, directed at Pence were never communicated. Joining me now, Steve Schmidt, a former senior adviser to President George W. Bush, John McCain, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Molly Jong-Fast contributing writer for The Atlantic.

Steve, can we just digest for a second? And great to have you on the show. We appreciate it. What it would mean for the vice president's chief of staff to tell the Secret Service, the president United States is putting his own vice president in danger. I mean, we also know from some of the testimony that has come into the January 6 committee that Mark Meadows who we were talking about earlier, was warned in advance that there could be violence on January 6. What do you think about all this?

STEVE SCHMIDT, FORMER ADVISER TO GEORGE W. BUSH: It's a extraordinary way point in an extraordinary series of events that will be laid out in primetime television by the January 6 Select Committee, where they inform the American people about what I believe will be a pretty significant conspiracy to interrupt the peaceful transition of power that had gone on uninterrupted in the United States in 1797.

Take it's one of the most significant criminal events in American history. The President of the United States who initiated it, who instigated it, who's responsible for the violence, the mayhem is still a significant political figure, and still continues to taunt the American people every day, and at the end of the day is a significant candidate for the Republican nomination in 2024.

And so we're at a midpoint between elections coming up on the midterm election, where there's going to be some really serious information for the American people to get their heads around as they get to make a series of decisions over the next two or three years about the direction of the country. That's what's going to be laid out.

ACOSTA: Yes, no question about it. It's a significant moment, Washington has seen its share of high stakes summer hearings. And I think this is exactly the same sort of thing that's going to be playing out on Thursday, later this coming week.

And Molly, we just learned that the Justice Department obviously is not going to charge former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows or Trump a dance convener with contempt of Congress for not cooperating with the January 6 committee even though Peter Navarro, as we were just talking about was indicted. We all found out about this late last night when bad news is typically buried before the weekend.

I mean, what did you think of that? Does this mean that Meadows is out of the woods? What was your reaction to all this when we saw this on our phones last night?

MOLLY JONG-FAST, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: I mean, yes, Friday night news dump as always. I think, you know, it's still a little bit early to tell the January 6 committee has this opportunity to really show the narrative, right, and we're going to get to see exactly what happened.

We're going to hear probably some messages, it sounds like we're going to see a lot of evidence. And I think that, you know, people don't care about things until they do, right. Things don't matter until they do. And I think that this is happening in primetime, and people are seeing it.

And Liz Cheney is extremely, you know, good in front of the cameras, as are the rest of the committee. And so I think there's a real opportunity here to sort of get people to understand just what happened. This is always going to be about permeating that right wing media bubble and getting those people to see this hearing. And if that happens, I think that's going to be really important.

ACOSTA: Yes, Steve, what about that? I mean, that is one of my big questions heading into these hearings is that how is Fox going to cover it? How is it going to play in conservative media? What are the Trump folks going to do to distract everybody others?

[15:15:03]

An Axios report saying that the Trump folks are going to try to distract everybody from what is going to be laid out to the public at these hearings. I mean, it kind of reminds me, you know, if a tree falls in the forest, you know, does anybody hear it? Does it make a sound?

You know, in conservative, MAGA world, if they're all distracted by the Trump bright, shiny objects or whatever, you know, Hunter Biden stuff they throw up on Fox News on Thursday night. Is it going to sink in? Is it going to have the same effect that the Watergate hearings had 50 years ago, and so on?

SCHMIDT: I think the communications that exists in the world today are very different than 50 years ago. The reality is, is that there's a sophisticated, complex interconnected, really global misinformation network, hub by Fox News in this country, that misinforms people at an industrial level.

Now, 25 percent of the country is completely supportive of the MAGA movement of Trump, I suppose, of the insurrection. The reality, though, is that the overwhelming majority of the country is opposed to it. And I think that the country will tune in here to the facts.

The simple fact is this is that we live in a constitutional republic, it is the oldest in the world, and that Republic requires citizens who have a sense of both obligation and responsibility. A republic doesn't function without informed citizens.

And so the choices ahead, the facts that will be laid out are important or significant, and the country will be exposed to them. And at the end of the day, the facts are the facts, they will be overwhelming. The evidence will be laid out.

My view is is that the American people are not passive about the future of the country. You can look at the 1930s took a long time for people in the United States to awaken to the threat. You can look at the 1850s. You can look at other comparable periods of time before the progressive era, the beginning of the 20th century.

When the American people awaken to a threat they awaken to it. People are always surprised how long it takes, people who are first awakened to it look with dismay at others who come along way.

But at the end of the day, the story in this country's history is clear. When the American people are confronted overwhelmingly with facts, they react to it, particularly when it speaks to the threat that faces a country that contains their children and their futures.

ACOSTA: And Molly, I don't want to let you guys go without talking about what happened up on Capitol Hill this week. The gun debate flared up once again, there was a house judiciary committee hearing on guns. There was a very surreal moment when a Florida Congressman used his time to show off his personal handgun collection. Let's take a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. GREG STEUBE (R-FL): Right here from me I have a SIG Sauer P226 comes with a 21-round magazine. This gun would be banned. Here's a 12- round magazine, this magazine would be banned under this current bill. Here's a gun I carry every single day to protect myself, my family, my wife, my home, this gun would be banned.

REP. LOUIE GOHMERT (R-TX): To infer by rhetorical supposed questions. Who are you here for? We must be here for the gunman is an outrage. How dare you? You think we don't have hearts?

REP. DAVID CICILLINE (D-RI): You know, didn't have their constitutional right to life respected. The kids at Parkland, in Sandy Hook, in Uvalde, in Buffalo, and the list goes on and on. So spare me the bullshit about constitutional rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Molly, the President wants assault weapons banned. And if he can't do that, he wants at least to raise the age limit for purchasing assault weapons to 21 years old. The gun makers, he wants them to no longer be immune from liability. Do you think that there's any political will to make any of that happen right now?

I mean, to Steve's point a little bit, I understand what he's saying about the January 6 hearings. And when people wake up, they wake up. But I'm just looking at some of that video and lawmakers holding up handguns and so on. Has the extremism on the far right just gotten so out of control that people just aren't even going to listen to reason anymore. They're just not going to listen to the facts.

JONG-FAST: Right.

ACOSTA: They're just going to, you know, they're just what -- people were just waiting guns around now at congressional hearings, what the hell is going on?

JONG-FAST: Well, and that's a really good case for the state's doing the banning guns in a way or ban, you know, raising the purchase age or banning, you know, assault rifles.

[15:20:07]

I mean, that's a really interesting situation. So, you could do and you have it already in California and New York State, you're seeing these blue states do what the red states did to abortion, right. I mean, Texas has had abortion, pretty much outlawed since last September.

And what you're going to see more and more as blue states doing that. You have Hoko (ph) wants to raise the purchase age to 21. You will have California doing all sorts of stuff. And they already have really sort of much more restrictions on guns at the state level, which has really worked.

And so I see, you know, Republicans love state's rights. So let's see what they think about blue states having rights. I mean, this is what it is. And I also think Republican politicians are really out of step.

The polling says that these kind of, you know, raising the minimum age and outline these assault weapons is actually pretty popular, more popular than a lot of things. And so you just have a party that's gotten so MAGA, they can't do anything that isn't like super MAGA. But I do think there is well and people want it. It's just that Republicans are so become so extreme that they won't necessarily do it. ACOSTA: All right, Molly Jong-Fast, Steve Schmidt, a great to have you both on. Great discussion. Really appreciate the time. Thanks so much. We'll see you again soon.

SCHMIDT: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Thanks, guys. Coming up. Child's chilling 911 call during the Texas School massacre revealing a lot of bodies quote, a lot of bodies in the classroom. But did the commander at the scene ever hear her plea for help?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:47]

ACOSTA: We're learning more about a desperate 911 call made by one of the young survivors of the Uvalde School massacre after her teachers and classmates were shot by a gunman. CNN's Nick Valencia joins me now from Uvalde.

Nick, the transcript shows this just awful call that lasted for some 17 minutes. What did the girl say?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, this heart wrenching transcript was obtained by the New York Times and it we see just how frightening and must have been for these children that were in Robb Elementary School as the gunman stormed in.

Khloie Torres, 10 years old, just 10 years old was in the classroom when the gunman came into her class and began shooting and this is part of what she said in her call to 911. There's a lot of bodies. I don't want to die. My teacher is dead. My teacher is dead. Please send help. Send help for my teacher, she is shot but still alive.

According to 10-year-old Torres, she had to play dead just so the gunman would spare her life. She says classmates on either side of her were shot and killed. Listen to what she had to say about her experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHLOIE TORRES, CALLED 911 FROM INSIDE CLASSROOM DURING RAMPAGE: My friend Amerie she started trying to call the police with her friend's phone. And when they did that, she started saying he'll die. He shot my friends and my teachers. He shot the girl next to me. She said I've been shot. And I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to come over to me so I said quiet and he came back and shot her again because she were quiet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Torres had just moved with her family from Louisiana to Uvalde during spring break and she said one of her big friends that she referred to as Amerie Jo Garza, unfortunately did not make it and it's Garza that is being hailed by a hero as many because she is one of the young children that called 911. Meanwhile, Jim, we're learning more about the details of what happened that horrific day when it comes to Pete Arredondo who's the school district police chief. According to The New York Times he didn't have his radio on him even though he was the incident commander.

And while it is not uncommon for some police officers to use their cell phone to communicate with their colleagues during incidents like this, for the communities here who have failed to get major answers for -- major questions answered. It just underscores the incompetence of police incompetence that clearly cost lives. Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Nick Valencia, thank you very much for that report. Coming up, your eyes do not deceive you. A gas is now selling for nearly $10 a gallon in one part of the country, obviously not that way everywhere, but it is selling at that level in one part of the country. Plus, keep calm and party on a major royal event goes on without the star traction.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

15:33:05]

ACOSTA: It's a party in the U.K. Right now, thousands are gathered outside of Buckingham Palace for a concert celebrating Queen Elizabeth's 70 years on the British throne.

Diana Ross and Adam Lambert are among the headliners. And the queen's son, Prince Charles, and grandson, Prince Williams, will give speeches paying tribute to her.

But the guest of honor has been absent from some of her own Platinum Jubilee events. The palace says the queen experienced some discomfort on Thursday, the first day of her Platinum Jubilee celebration.

So she did not attend Friday's thanksgiving service at St. Paul's Cathedral or today's derby at Epsom Downs, which is meant to honor the monarch's life-long love of horses.

CNN's Richard Quest, host of "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS," is here. He's as close as we get to the royals this weekend. But we're honored to have him with us.

Richard, is the queen's presence from the events stoking concerns about her health? What do you think? She is the picture of longevity. Just a remarkable life.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Yes, and I think tonight, Jim, what you saw at the start of the party at the palace is exactly that. The queen with Paddington Bear. She outdid her James Bond 007 of the London Olympics.

I think, this time -- of course, there are concerns. She's 96, for goodness sakes. There are always going to be concerns.

But many people -- like tonight, for example. Tonight, instead of being in town with the thousands of others, many people are at home reflecting, watching the concert.

I'm here with the family in north London. We're enjoying just watching the concert, reminiscing.

Because, Jim, the queen has been part of our lives since the moment we were born. I'm 60. So she'd already been on the throne for a good 10 years before I was even born.

ACOSTA: Wow. That is true. And for so many of us around the world, this has been our life, watching Queen Elizabeth

[15:35:01]

QUEST: Yes.

ACOSTA: -- on the throne.

On the night of Queen Elizabeth's coronation, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill described the queen as "a lady whom we respect because she's our queen and whom we love because she is herself."

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: So 70 years later, what do you think of that? What do you think of what Sir Winston had to say?

QUEST: I think Americans find it quite difficult having (AUDIO PROBLEM) -- why and how we go along with the royal family and the monarchy. It's like foreigners trying to understand the American dream. It's something you've got to be born with.

Yes, you can look at the royal family as a sort of a soap opera, sort of a drama with the family trials and tribulations. But for somebody like myself and my family, not everybody, of course, there's a view that the queen has been part of our lives.

She's part of the fabric of the constitution of this country. And having done it for 70 years, that, I think, is what is exceptional and extraordinary.

And that is why this country has gone overboard to celebrate. We'll never see the like of it again.

By the way, Jim, I know you have a bit of a sweet tooth. So --

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

QUEST: So we made this. The Union Jack. Victoria sponge --

ACOSTA: Wow.

QUEST: -- which I'm sure you're going to demolish a piece or two before we are finished. I certainly am going to.

This is meant --

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: It pairs well with the rose as well.

QUEST: Yes. Yes. Absolutely.

Tomorrow -- so you have the party at the palace tonight but, tomorrow, please god, the rain stops or doesn't come. Tomorrow, you have street parties all over the country. Thousands of street parties.

Because this is when the ordinary man, woman and child, the people of Britain get to celebrate their monarch, our monarch, my monarch being on the throne for 70 years. But we'll never see the like of it again.

ACOSTA: I have to ask you, Richard, Harry and Meghan showed up to support the queen, despite the rift with Prince Charles and Prince William.

QUEST: Yes.

ACOSTA: What do you make of all that? Are we making too much of that? What do you think?

QUEST: Look, at the end of the day, Harry is the grandson, so, of course, he's going to be there.

The rift, yes, you didn't see William and Harry talk to each other during the service at St. Paul's. We do know that Lilibet, who's now 1, has met Her Majesty, the queen. We know there was a meeting between Charles and Harry.

But the reality is, you cannot escape the fact that Harry and Meghan abandoned the royals, headed up to Vancouver, then down to Los Angeles, California, and then, in doing so, put the boot in to the royal family.

You can slice that Victoria sponge anyway you like, Jim, but the reality is, that's what they did.

And like any family, there will have to be (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) over a period of time. And I think that's the process you're starting to see now.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. And, you know, maybe some of us from time to time will just have to be like Prince Louis and hold our hands over our ears with the family drama.

(LAUGHTER)

ACOSTA: Save me a piece of that cake, Richard. It looks absolutely terrific. Thanks so much.

QUEST: Yes.

ACOSTA: Very British.

QUEST: Thank you very much. All the best to yourself. ACOSTA: All the best to you.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: All the best to the queen as well.

All right, Richard Quest, thank you very much.

And now a programming note, as Richard enjoys his cake with his family. Go inside the Watergate scandal like never before with Woodward and Bernstein, the Watergate prosecutors and the man who turned on the Nixon, White House counsel, John Dean.

The new CNN original series, "WATERGATE: BLUEPRINT FOR A SCANDAL," premiers tomorrow night on CNN.

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow, a new original series.

RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have no intention of ever walking away from the job the people elected me to do.

ANNOUNCER: Experience Watergate like never before. Hear what happened behind closed doors from the people who were there, the journalists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most people didn't believe the stories we were writing.

ANNOUNCER: The investigators, the lawmakers, and the ultimate inside man.

JOHN DEAN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: Many have tried to dissect the events of Watergate. I lived them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Conspiracy, extortion, blackmail.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The wiretapping.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was explosive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nixon engaged in activities that were criminal to secure his victory.

ANNOUNCER: And see how this pivotal moment still echoes 50 years later.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you have a president who thinks he can do anything, we're in trouble.

[15:39:52]

ANNOUNCER: "WATERGATE: BLUEPRINT FOR A SCANDAL" premiers tomorrow at 9:00, only on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: South Florida has been getting hammered by a powerful storm that's caused heavy flooding and grounded hundreds of flights.

Miami saw more than 11 inches of rainfall in just the last 24 hours. Some drivers getting stranded in waist-deep driver. Look at this video right here. Just unbelievable. Climbing up onto the roof, tops of their cars to get out.

Check out what it looks like in this flooded Miami-Dade County neighborhood. My goodness.

The Miami-Dade mayor saying a short time ago people there are safe but adding this is a warning ahead of a busy hurricane season.

[15:45:06]

Republican Dave McCormick conceding the Pennsylvania Senate primary to Trump-back candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz last night. Did you catch this? McCormick acknowledging he's going to come up short in the statewide recount.

Oz is now set to face John Fetterman, the Democratic lieutenant governor, who's recovering from a stroke last month. Fetterman revealing he, quote, "almost died for it," and admitting he will, quote, "take some more time to get back on the campaign trail."

He's also chalking it up to needing to see a doctor on a regular basis. A good lesson for all of us.

Talk about sticker shock, a northern California gas station charging customers nearly $10 a gallon. According to CNN affiliate, KGO, this repair shop was charging $9.60 for a gallon of regular on Friday. For supreme, drivers have to pay $9.91 a gallon, the most expensive in the country.

Keep in mind, AAA says today's national average is $4.81 a gallon for regular. The gas station owner, we should note, has said their prices are so high because they do not sell food or drinks to help cover costs.

A Polish tennis star, Iga Swiantek, has won her second grand-slam title defeating American teen Coco Gauff in the French Open. Swiantek is now the youngest woman since Maria Sharapova to win multiple majors.

She also now has 35 consecutive wins, matching a record by Venus Williams. It was the first game-slam final for 18-year-old Coco Gauff -- there she is right there -- who has a remarkable career already. She's risen to a career high position of 13th in the world rankings.

The women's tour now heads to Wimbledon at the end of the month. The original Gerber baby has passed away. Ann Turner Cook's baby face

has covered Gerber products since 1928 when her neighbor entered a sketch into a contest for an advertising campaign.

For decades, Cook's identity was a secret. She was an English teacher and wrote a series of mystery novels after she retired.

The company said it was saddened by her passing and that "her smile and expressive curiosity will continue to live on as a symbol for all babies." Ann Turner Cook was 95 years old.

And for months, parents have been struggling to find baby formula amid a nationwide shortage. Now the Abbott Nutrition plant is getting ready to go back online. Great news for parents. But how soon before supplies are back on store shelves? Key question in all of this. We'll get a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:52:15]

ACOSTA: With many families still struggling to find baby formula, the Michigan plant at the center of a nationwide recall and formula shortage finally resumed operations today.

The plant was shut down in February over contamination months after the FDA first became aware of the issue. Four babies who were fed formula became sick, and two of them died. But it's not certain the bacteria that made them sick came from the plant.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is in Sturgis, Michigan.

Polo, this is something parents across the country are talking about. How soon will parents see new cans of baby formula on the shelves finally?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's going to be a while, Jim, because, as you recall, you kept hearing time and time again that the temporary closure of this Abbott plant in Sturgis, Michigan, was cited as one of those key factors that led to this nationwide shortage.

That has led to parents really for months now struggling to make sure that they have what they need to make sure that their babies are fed.

But now, today is a significant step in what many parents hope will be a step in the right direction. Abbott Nutrition announces that they have restarted again the production of several of their baby formulas.

Not all of them at this point, though. Right now, according to company officials, it will be focusing on Elecare, which is basically this amino-acid based, hypoallergenic product that they hope will go a long way for parents with children with special dietary needs.

But officials also hoping that they will be expanding their manufacturing process, which also includes Similac, which you might potentially find at your grocery store. But here's the thing, Jim. At this point, according to the company,

they do not expect this sort of first round of product that's being manufactured again starting today to hit store shelves at least until June 20th.

So it's going to be some time. This will not be an overnight positive impact on grocery store shelves. But it really goes with what we've been hearing from the company and the Biden administration that this is what they hoped to see.

Abbott Nutrition, for its part, they have maintained that, during their review, they did not find any evidence of contamination of their product but, nonetheless, found there was some room for improvement, including improving some of their protocols.

And that's exactly what we're hearing right now from Abbott Nutrition officials, hoping to add, to supplement to that supply that the Biden administration's already flying in from overseas -- Jim?

ACOSTA: All right, Polo Sandoval, thanks for that update. We appreciate it.

Breast milk banks have been a real lifesaver for some parents during this crisis. That's why this week's "CNN Heroes" salutes lifestyle content creator, Lucie Fink, a breast-feeding mom donating her excess milk for babies in need after sharing her journey with her online audience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUCIE FINK, CNN HERO: My son is now 12 weeks old, and he eats four times a day. It was actually my TikTok and Instagram followers that alerted me that I had such a drastic oversupply of breast milk.

[15:55:04]

Pumping from the start was a big mystery box for me. And I know that it is that way for a lot of other moms as well.

Ever since having Milo, I would share a lot of content about my nursing journey. I would always express milk one or two more times in a day than he was actually feeding.

I Googled how to donate my breast milk in New York City. It was easy. It was fast. The whole process was so incredibly rewarding. And especially now with the formula shortage, it's needed more than ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: To learn more about her efforts, go to CNNheroes.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)