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Mass Shootings Across the U.S. this Weekend; Texas Report on Uvalde Still to be Released; Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) is Interviewed about Gun Legislation; Trump is Mobilizing Allies; January 6th Hearing. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 06, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:30]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A good Monday morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto.

We begin this Monday with a deadly weekend of gun violence across America. We know this headline is sadly familiar. It is also sadly real.

At least 15 people are dead, more than 60 others wounded, in at least ten mass shootings across nine states in this country just this weekend. In two different cities, at least three people were killed in Philadelphia, Saginaw, Michigan.

In Philadelphia, multiple shooters - multiple -- opened fire into a crowd at a popular entertainment district. There were mass shootings. And we should note, so you understand, CNN defines a mass shooting as a shooting that injured or killed four or more people, not including the shooter. But we saw these in several cities across the U.S.

In Chattanooga, Tennessee, it was a nightclub. In Phoenix, a strip mall. In Mesa, Arizona, a bar. In South Carolina, Virginia and Texas, they were graduation parties.

The list continues as pressure is building on Congress to take some action on gun control where they have not acted before. This week, the House Oversight Committee will hear testimony from survivors, including children and others impacted in recent shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde. We're going to have more on that, exactly who you're going to see in just a moment.

But, first, let's speak to CNN's Polo Sandoval. He is following it all.

So, Polo, it's hard to keep track.

Let's start with the search for shooters in Philadelphia. One of half a dozen - one of half a dozen shootings we saw this weekend.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An important distinction to mention here, Jim. Unlike those cold and calculated massacres that were carried out in Buffalo, in Texas and Oklahoma in the last few weeks, this actually just started as a street brawl, but it very quickly turned into a full-on gun battle in a very popular entertainment district here in Philadelphia. And, in the end, it left over 11 people injured, three of them fatally.

And as we heard from the police commissioner here in Philadelphia lay out yesterday an important detail, that many of those that were caught in the crossfire were innocent bystanders.

What we know about what took place here in Philadelphia's South Street district on Saturday night was, again, it started as a street brawl. And at one point those shots were fired.

Philadelphia police officers had been closely monitoring traffic about a potential confrontation that would take place. So they were posted nearby. In fact, one of those officers even engaged one of that - one of the suspects involved in Saturday night's shooting. And, according to police, even wounded that individual who dropped his pistol and then fled.

And so this morning the search is on for those responsible as, again, those three people confirmed dead in this shooting alone. And it's a scenario where there were multiple shooters using several firearms to open fire. Very similar to what we also saw in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for example, over the weekend in which three people were shot and killed, 14 others injured when a gun fight broke out at a nightclub.

We heard from city officials there over the weekend, including from Tim Kelly, the mayor of that city, who was -- who spoke to his city just immediately after another significant shooting just last week. So, you're looking at two significant shootings in the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in just two weeks. Mayor Tim Kelly joining a group of mayors, calling on legislators to act, but also the next breath supporting legal gun ownership.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR TIM KELLY (I), CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE: I'm a gun owner. I'm a -- I've been a hunter since I was a child. This is not -- this is not something that - you know, I'm not trying to take away anybody's Second Amendment rights, but I think we can agree that there are common sense approaches here.

There are really three parties in the United States -- Republicans, Democrats and Mayors. So, we will do, as mayors, what we have to do to keep our people safe. But we could sure use some help at the federal level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: We heard there from Mayor Kelly something that we have heard really throughout much of the country, including here in Philadelphia. In fact, city officials speaking out yesterday saying that the time would be now for that meaningful gun reform.

There is a very real worry here in Philadelphia that the rate of shootings that this city is seeing just this year alone could potentially either match or even surpass the record number of shootings that Philadelphia saw last year.

Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes, records broken seemingly every year.

Polo Sandoval, thanks so much.

Today, in Uvalde, Texas, the grieving continues. There was another funeral for a child. This time, there she is, nine-year-old Eliahna Amyah (ph) Garcia. Saturday would have been her tenth birthday. Her grandparents told "The L.A. Times" that Ellie was a huge "Encanto" fan, dreamed of being a teacher herself.

[09:05:01]

Some local businesses are showing their support by wearing purple and passing out purple goody bags to their customers. Purple was Ellie's favorite color. Not even 10.

Also later today, visitation services for 10-year-old Xavier Lopez. There he is. As families mourn, families of children, frustrations are growing over officials' lack of transparency about the police response to the shooting. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will be in Uvalde today to meet privately with the workforce, as well as local officials.

CNN's Nick Valencia, he's in Uvalde.

Nick, what are the latest revelations? A consistent pattern here has been stories initially presented by authorities and police, they fell apart, under scrutiny. We're expecting a more formal report from the department of public safety there. What do we expect?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nothing but shifting narratives here when it comes to state and local law enforcement and their information that they provided. It doesn't appear that we're any closer to getting that Texas DPS report. We were initially expecting it on Friday. That never happened. And at this point, officials aren't just not answering our questions, they're avoiding them all together.

When I reached the local district attorney here in Uvalde, Christina Busby, by phone, she hung up on me, saying that she wouldn't be commenting on the case at all. Last week, when Texas DPS stopped taking the media's questions, they put any inquiries towards Busby, but now she's not talking to us either.

And for a case that has so many questions at this point, it's just simply unacceptable that this broken and fractured community doesn't have any answers.

Meanwhile, though, we are getting more information and more details about what happened that day from Emilia Marin's attorney. She's the teacher that was falsely accused of leaving a door propped open where the shooter was said to have initially entered. We know that is now false.

Listen to Marin's attorney describe some more detail about what she saw that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON FLANARY, ATTORNEY FOR ROBB ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER EMILIA MARIN: She saw the accident as it happened. And she saw him running towards her. She saw him jump the fence, come at her and the school. Then she went inside and slammed the door. And she heard all of the shots on the outside. She heard all the shots that -- when he shot the side of the building. She actually thought he was going to go around to the side where all the other children were playing. Then she heard all the shots when he came inside. She thought that he was going to come in and come into her room and kill her as well. She thought that she was going to die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Tomorrow will mark two weeks since the shooting. And it's hard to believe that police have yet to offer a full explanation of their inactions that day.

Jim.

SCIUTTO: No, and pushing back, in fact, on even reasonable questions, as you note, Nick. Thanks so much.

Well, this week, the House Oversight Committee is going to hear testimony from survivors and others impacted by recent mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde. Among those expected to testify is 11-year-old Miah Cerrillo. She's a fourth grade student at Robb Elementary School, who, you may remember, she's the one who had to cover herself in her friend's blood to play dead after the gunman open fire in her classroom. She didn't want to be another victim.

Joining me now to speak about this, Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois. He's a member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, also the Intelligence Committee.

Congressman, thanks so much for taking the time this morning.

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: First, I want to begin with the testimony which promises to be powerful. Victims of shootings, particularly child victims of shootings. I wonder, what goal does your committee have by bringing children, such as Miah, onto the floor?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I think it's really important that people not understand gun violence as some far off, distant, academic issue, but it has a huge, human impact. And having these children, as well as the family of victims testify really brings it home as to what happens when we do nothing about gun violence.

SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this, though, because Miah, our colleague, Nora News (ph), spoke to her last week off camera. And here was a girl who didn't want to speak even to a man - even to a male journalist because that brought back memories of the male shooter in this. And, clearly, impacted and will be for years by the trauma of this.

Are you concerned at all that this puts undue pressure on children, such as Miah?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I'm concerned. On the other hand, I think that her telling her story will be very powerful. And, again, it will hopefully change hearts and minds on this subject.

I think that right now we're in a special moment, Jim, where I think that even a majority of people on the other side of the aisle, even at the grassroots, want something done to control gun violence. I was in a variety of parades this weekend. One of them was actually through a Republican part of my district. And I can't tell you how many people came up to me, people I wouldn't have heard from in the past, who basically said, please do something about controlling gun violence.

[09:10:07]

SCIUTTO: That's what we heard shouted at the president when he visited Uvalde a number of days ago.

So, let's ask about the progress there. You've had Senator Chris Murphy, who is spearheading things for Democrats on the Senate side, telling my colleague Jake Tapper this weekend that he is - he, at least, is more confident than ever - I mean he did caveat that by saying, you know, they failed to come through before. But more confident than ever that they could get something substantive done.

What are your other Democratic colleagues in the Senate and the leadership telling you? Are they, are you, similarly confident?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I wouldn't say confident. I would say we were -- we're cautiously optimistic. I think there are several components of this package that seem to command bipartisan support, such as red flag laws, expanded background checks, investments in school safety as well as mental health care, and possibly raising the age for the purchase of a rifle from 18 to 21.

Finally, there's a measure that I'm championing which could make its way, which is having a three-day waiting period for the purchase of rifles. This is something that's been incorporated in Florida, and it could be at the national level with positive benefits.

SCIUTTO: Yes, something that goes back to the Brady law, right, and might have had an impact, particularly when you see folks buying their weapons so close.

But some o the things you describe there you know are higher bars for Republicans, and not just raising the age, but also the possibility of expanding background checks. There has been talk, though, of using what's been passed in Republican-run states as a model.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Right. SCIUTTO: And that includes Florida. 2018 you had this law passed following Parkland and it included things, as you mentioned, such as raising the age from 18 to 21.

When you speak to Republican colleagues, do they express interest, confidence in measures like this one?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Again, I wouldn't say confidence, but definitely interest. You know, just as an example, something you don't normally see, an open letter was written in the "Dallas Morning News" addressed to Senator Cornyn expressing support for his leading the way on negotiations in the Senate. And it was authored by 250 gun enthusiasts and benefactors of the republican party. And what they said is, we should have expanded background checks, we should have these red flag laws, we should increase the age at which people are allowed to purchase rifles. And they said that, you know, these are effective measures. And I think a lot of people would agree. So, if we can build around those components and get something done, I think that's important progress that we need to make right now.

SCIUTTO: We will keep watching, see if there's progress this time.

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, thanks so much for joining us.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you so much, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Still to come this hour, new CNN reporting this morning, days ahead of the first public January 6th hearing. And former President Trump trying to mobilize an army of supporters to defend him against his role. That's coming up.

Also ahead, can the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, survive a confidence vote in parliament today? The results, if they get the votes, could oust him from his leadership position. We'll be live in London for an update.

Plus, gas prices already high. They jumped another 25 cents in the last week alone. Maybe you've seen that at the pump yourself. Is there any relief in sight as we head into an even busier summer travel season?

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[09:17:58]

SCIUTTO: We are just three days away from the first public and primetime hearing of the January 6th committee's investigation into the Capitol insurrection. The committee says people will hear new, compelling information from their probe. But as lawmakers prepare to make their case, former President Trump mobilizing some of his closest allies to try to come to his defense throughout this.

CNN's Melanie Zanona live this morning.

So, Melanie, I mean they are saying they got something new here and compelling. That it won't be what you've heard already. What do we know?

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Setting some pretty high expectations here.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

ZANONA: Yes, so the committee has said they are going to reveal new information in the hearings through a multimedia presentation. Committee members have said the information that they have uncovered has been disturbing and damning. And essentially what they're going to try to do is tell a compelling story from beginning to end about how Trump and his allies plotted to overturn the election and were ultimately responsible for the violence on January 6th.

The question, Jim, is whether they can convince the American public to care about the threat to democracy the same way they care about everyday issues, like gas prices and inflation and the baby formula shortage.

And the committee understands that challenge. Just take a listen to what Liz Cheney had to say about all of this yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): We are not in a situation where former President Trump has expressed any sense of remorse about what happened. We're, in fact, in a situation where he continues to use even more extreme language, frankly, than the language that caused the attack. And so people must pay attention. People must watch and they must understand how easily our democratic system can unravel if we don't defend it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZANONA: So, the stakes are incredibly high for this committee. This is probably their best and last shot to make their case to the American public.

And, meanwhile, they're going to have Republicans trying to undermine them at every turn. Sources told me and my colleagues, Ryan Nobles and Zach Cohen, that Trump has reached out to his Hill allies and asked them to defend him and push back on the select committee while these public hearings play out. And Republicans have agreed to do that.

[09:20:01]

GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, they have been planning behind the scenes about what that counterattack is going to look like.

The problem for Republicans is, there's only so much spin you can put on these things when the committee has cold, hard evidence in the form of, you know, text messages, documents, firsthand witness testimony. So, there's just going to be a ton to track heading into this (INAUDIBLE). SCIUTTO: No question. Well, it's an interesting strategy because it's

similar to the January 6th -- rather, the impeachment hearings where those video elements were so central to it. They tried to tell a convincing story and using the images from there.

ZANONA: Right.

SCIUTTO: Melanie Zanona, thanks so much.

ZANONA: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: All right, so, big picture. Joining me now to discuss, Republican strategist Doug Heye, and CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers.

Jennifer, if I could begin with you just with a legal look here, because there are the politics of this but there's also what they can prove, right, or try to prove here.

What evidence do they need to establish, to create at least the possibility of a criminal referral to the Department of Justice?

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Jim, they can make a criminal referral based on their own conclusion that there's criminal liability here. So, they're not really shooting for a particular burden of proof standard. But, of course, if they do get into criminal court, we'll all be looking for proof beyond a reasonable (INAUDIBLE) the highest standard known to law. So, they're really going to want compelling proof, you know.

And I have to say, we're expecting new evidence, but even from what they've showed us so far in the drips and drabs that have come out across the months, we've got a lot of proof of this long-standing, widespread conspiracy.

SCIUTTO: Doug Heye, you speak to GOP voters, operatives, all the time. Is this investigation so far, and will the next step of nationally televised hearings, which what they promise to be, or will be new information here, is it substantively weakening Trump's influence and hold over the party?

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: No, not at all. And, in fact, isn't really damaging Trump nationally thus far. And we saw polling this morning that says that less voters are blaming Donald Trump today than they were six months or a year ago for January 6th.

Now, this week, which will be a very interesting week to watch, and what we've seen with some of the leaks that have specifically come from the committee, they plan for this to be a big, bombshell show. There's going to be a lot of what you call on Capitol Hill "artwork" to get people's attention.

But what we've also seen so often recently is, we've had a lot of bombshell announcements from books and so forth that have had shocking stories and tapes and things like that, that get a lot of headlines, but ultimately what do voters focus on more? What they're paying at the pump, what they're paying for meat and chicken and so forth --

SCIUTTO: I know that's true. I do know that's true.

But the allegations here are not of your typical mismanagement. I mean they're of potentially criminal attempt to overturn the election. I mean we're 50 years out from Watergate. I mean when you compare this to what was alleged in Watergate, it's like a different category? I mean does it - does it - is there any standard that pierces that bubble from these hearings, or no? Are you saying - and that could very well be the answer --

HEYE: Yes.

SCIUTTO: But is there any standard that pierces that?

HEYE: I mean short of a criminal indictment for Donald Trump or somebody very, very close to him, and as we saw, you know, Mark Meadows is not going to be indicted, in part because it's very clear they don't think they can get a conviction.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HEYE: It's not going to do that. And, you know, let's look at just politically on this, let's go back to the impeachment. When Donald Trump was impeached the first time, he was, you know, almost won his re-election ten months later and the discussion of impeachment was nonexistent in the closing days of the campaign.

SCIUTTO: Yes, no question.

OK, Jennifer, when you hear the committee say, you've seen a lot of revelations already, you've seen the text messages go back and forth, which speak to a plot, right, you know, with organization to overturn the election, but we're going to have more. What are you looking for, and you follow this very closely, that would fit into that category of more, right?

RODGERS: Well, I'm expecting more revelations like that, who was involved in this plot, what exactly were they doing and what were they planning. But also a bigger picture. You know, these dribs and drabs don't really give a sense of the scope of the plot or how serious it was. So I expect a really good job from the committee on a timeline and this overarching summary of the conspiracy that will let all Americans know, or at least all of those who are paying attention, that this was serious, this was real, this was concerted. This wasn't just kind of here and there people throwing out ideas but real ideas and real action behind those ideas.

SCIUTTO: Doug, one phenomena of this. You know you talk about book revelations or, you know, even what the January 6th committee has turned up so far is, people who worked closely with this president say he was responsible and is not fit for office.

HEYE: No.

SCIUTTO: And one of those people -- he hasn't said it in so many words is his former vice president, Mike Pence.

HEYE: Yes.

SCIUTTO: I mean he's making bones about possibly challenging Trump for the nomination. His chief of staff we know has testified to the committee. "The New York Times" reporting this weekend about they were concerned the day before about security threats to the vice president.

HEYE: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Given all that, should Vice President Pence be testifying? If he truly believes that this man is a threat to democracy and is not fit for office, should he not say that in so many words under oath?

HEYE: Yes, I'd like to hear more from him and, frankly, from everyone else who was in the building that day and dealt with very real, potential life and death situations.

[09:25:01]

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HEYE: You know you hear story after story of a senator, a member of Congress, walking down a hallway and having to turn around very quickly with a security detail. These are very troubling things and that Mike Pence's team was worried about his own physical safety beforehand really gets into the Shakespearean aspect of, you know, is this Richard III essentially happening in our Capitol?

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HEYE: And it should be troubling to what's happening - what happened to voters.

But Jennifer used the phrase, voters who are paying attention. And I think that's exactly right. With so much going on in the country, elections are about the future, not the past. And when we get to the running up of election day -

SCIUTTO: It will be part of the future, though, right? I mean that's the point, yes.

HEYE: Well, you know, potentially that's part of the case that will have to be made.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HEYE: But everything we're facing right now today as a country, it's hard to see as a voting issue how voters look backwards in a few months.

SCIUTTO: Jennifer Rodgers, before we go, there's - there are legal timelines and there are political timelines here. I mean this is a political process. It's a committee. But there are other investigations underway in Georgia, elsewhere. Everybody talks about, you've got to do it before the midterms. Are there any legal processes underway that we're going to see results from in the near term?

RODGERS: Maybe Georgia. I don't think we'll see anything from DOJ. That's much bigger, much more complicated. And once you get close to the midterms, of course, you won't see any because of DOJ's policy not to interfere with elections. But I do think if they are going to move, if they are going to indict people for January 6th and all that led up to it, it has to be by early 2023 because what you don't want to have happen is bring a bunch of indictments and then the presidency changes and they just, you know, dismiss those cases. So, they need to bring it by 2023 to have a chance to finish.

SCIUTTO: Well, Trump could announce by then, you know, his intentions to run, even before then.

Jennifer Rodgers, Doug Heye, good to have you both. I'm sure we'll have you back to discuss this.

RODGERS: Thanks.

SCIUTTO: And still ahead this hour, Ukrainian civilians once again fleeing the Donetsk region in the east. This as Russian attacks intensify, and they have been brutal, on the eastern front. That did not, however, stop Ukraine's president from making a visit close to the front lines. There he is. We're going to have more on that coming up.

We are also moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street. Futures up this morning. U.S. stocks fell Friday as the jobs report beat expectations by a wide margin. That's because investors, of course, are worried a tight labor market adds pressure to keep wages and therefore broader prices high. All that to say, the Fed likely to march on with its plan, keep raising interest rates.

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