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High Gas Prices And Continuing Inflation Devastating States Across U.S.; President Biden Comments On High Gas Prices As Being Caused By Russian Invasion Of Ukraine; Organizers Plan Marches Across U.S. To Protest For More Gun Safety Measures; House January 6th Select Committee Holds Public Hearing During Prime Time; Voters In California Possibly Repudiating Excess Focus On Criminal Reform From Local Officials; Large Number Of Satellites Being Launched May Clutter Night Sky; Migrant Caravan Headed To U.S. Border Now Includes Up To 5,000 Refugees. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired June 11, 2022 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:23]

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone, thanks for joining us for joining me. I'm Amara Walker in today for Fredricka Whitfield. The price of gas in the U.S. is hitting levels never seen before.

AAA saying the national average is now $5 a gallon, a new all-time high. Prices climbing at a dramatic pace, 60 cents in the last month alone. More than 20 states are now over that average.

California is the highest at $6.43. CNN's Paul Vercammen is live at a gas station in L.A. Paul, how are people reacting to these very high gas prices in California?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're reacting with shock, and they are in agony. If you look behind me, this gas station is considered a discount at $6.09 a gallon.

As you articulated, here in California the average now, $6.42. What drives all of this, California has an extremely high gas tax at 51 cents per gallon.

These taxes used to improve roads and infrastructure and whatnot.

But for these vendors we're talking to today, they're absolutely getting jackhammered by these prices.

A family rental business, party rental business, busy time of the year, weddings, graduations, Father's Day around the corner.

What they're doing right now is they're only filling up a partial tank at a time. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXIS GOMEZ, DRIVER, PARLANI PARTY RENTALS: Yes, it's crazy. It literally went up a dollar, I think, within a week.

It went from $5.39 to $6.09, now, I think that's what it is. And we only filled it with a quarter tank, and it is probably going to last us maybe for the rest of the day.

If not, we're going to have to fill up later on today again, another $60.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: So if you do the math, that's about $240 to fill up that large van so they can make their deliveries.

And they say they have to pass this on to the consumers, and of course the consumers are now debating about whether or not they can afford the party rentals.

It's all one huge, colossal ripple effect here, Amara, as southern Californians are hurting with these high prices.

WALKER: It definitely is a colossal ripple effect. Paul Vercammen, thank you.

And a short time ago President Biden left California heading to New Mexico. He spoke to reporters just moments ago about plans to help ease gas prices and also about gun safety.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is traveling with the president, joining us now live. Hi there, Arlette. What did he say.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Amara, President Biden once again lamented the high gas prices that Americans are feeling, saying that it is in part due to Russia's war in Ukraine.

The president spoke to reporters about the administration's efforts to try to drive down some of those prices and release more oil that could be purchased. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's outrageous what the war in Ukraine is causing. We're trying very hard to make sure that we can significantly increase the number of barrels of oil that are being pumped out of the reserve we have.

We've got 240,000 barrels as well coming from other nations. We're going to keep pushing on it. We're going to keep pushing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Of course, those high gas prices are part of what was driving up that record inflation report yesterday, which was really dismal compared to what the Biden administration had hoped to see as they were hoping the prices would soon begin to moderate.

Now, the president was also asked about the prospect of him possibly traveling to Saudi Arabia, potentially next month. That is what advisers have said, that a trip likely, or a meeting, at least, between the president and the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman likely would happen next month.

But the president himself told reporters that he hasn't decided if he actually will travel to Saudi Arabia, and has said that if he does travel, it would be to discuss larger national security issues, not energy.

Even as some advisers have said that part of a possible reset between the U.S. and Saudi relations would be to address those energy issues as the U.S. is hoping there will be increased production to try to provide some more stable prices when it comes to gas, both domestically and abroad.

Now, additionally, the president was also asked about those March for our Lives marches that are going on across the country.

He urged people to continue to demonstrate and show lawmakers that they want to see action, especially with those November midterm elections coming up, Amara.

WALKER: Very interesting comments there. Arlette Saenz, thank you very much.

And as Arlette mentioned, mass demonstrations are happening nationwide, calling for tighter gun control laws.

[14:05:00]

More than 300 March for our Lives rallies are happening today. Rally goers are renewing their cries for lawmakers to address the gun violence epidemic after a series of horrific mass shootings.

CNN is covering the rallies across multiple cities, and I want to begin with Whitney Wild at the Capitol. Whitney, what's going on there?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: We are just between the Washington Monument and the White House, steps from the Capitol. What's going on now is speakers are continuing to explain why this is so important.

As if it needs any more explanation, but what they say is clearly because there has not been enough action, there need to be more stories and more clarity, that this is such a real issue that affects all different types of the American experience.

It happens in neighborhoods every day. It happens at supermarkets. It happens at churches. It happens at schools. And the point here is to expose that gun violence does not discriminate. It affects the entirety of the American experience, and people here are demanding change.

We've heard from speakers who lost loved ones to gun violence like Garnell Whitfield, whose mother was murdered at the Buffalo mass shooting and the Tops Supermarket earlier this month.

And what he said was, he called on lawmakers and called on, really, all Americans to remember that our most precious commodity is people.

We also heard from David Hogg. He's a survivor of the Parkland shooting in 2018, on Valentine's Day, when a shooter killed more than a dozen students at his high school. And here is what he had to say earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID HOGG, PARKLAND SURVIVOR AND "MARCH FOR OUR LIVES" CO-FOUNDER: Here is the reality. If our government can't do anything to stop 19 kids from being killed and slaughtered in their own school and decapitated, it's time to change who is in government.

As we gather here today, the next shooter is already plotting his attack, while the federal government pretends it can do nothing to stop it. Since the shooting in Texas, the Senate has done only one thing. They have gone on recess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: There was a moment here when the clock on the monitor behind me hit 78 minutes, and it was a count of how long it took for the shooting in Uvalde, for police to finally enter the shooting in Uvalde.

And so what's very clear here is that people are calling on elected officials, on law enforcement, on anybody who has any role in changing this gun violence epidemic to do more.

Again, this march happened four years ago in Washington. In that time, how many mass shootings have there been, how many lives have been lost?

And so the question posed to elected leaders and, again, to law enforcement, to members of the justice system, is how many more people have to die before more action is taken? Back to you.

WALKER: As he said, how many gun control reform bills have been passed in Congress? None. Thank you so much, Whitney Wild.

CNN's Polo Sandoval joining us now live from New York. Tell us about your vantage point there.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amara, it was only four weeks ago today that New Yorkers experienced firsthand the pain that comes with these mass shootings, of course talking about that shooting that took place in Buffalo, New York.

And here we are four weeks later, and New Yorkers have really been re- galvanized by the events of that tragic day to speak up.

And that's what we saw today. We saw a massive group of demonstrators come together in Brooklyn and then march over the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, and then a few moments ago arrived here in lower Manhattan district for the speakers portion of the program.

So we're hearing from survivors of mass shootings, from elected officials as well. And their message seems to be the same, that more needs to be done beyond what may have already been done at the local or state level, instead at the federal level.

And calling on lawmakers to act, especially in the Senate.

And what perhaps stands apart here is what we saw from state lawmakers just a few days ago as they introduced and enacted a lengthy list of legislation that was passed and signed by Governor Hochul.

And among those provisions, even increasing the age that's required to purchase certain weapons.

And that is what I'm hearing from people here in New York that would like to see similar legislation not only introduced and passed at the House level but at the Senate level nationally.

But they're also very familiar with the reality that that may not happen. So that's why they're coming together and making sure that their call not only extends beyond New York throughout the country, but makes it to Washington, D.C., as well. Amara?

WALKER: Exactly. Thank you so much, Polo.

Let's turn it over now to CNN's Brian Todd, also joining us live from D.C. Brian, tell us more about what the attendees are telling you, the sentiment, what they're feeling.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amara, a lot of them are feeling very frustrated and trying to bring out their activism here toward ending gun violence and discussing solutions.

[14:10:04]

I do have to update you a little bit on a bit of a security scare we had here just a few minutes ago. Someone in the crowd did something to spark some fear in the crowd. Many members of the crowd started rushing toward us this way in a panic.

It was a mini stampede for a few minutes because a few people got knocked down. Then someone who was speaking on the rise, one of the designated speakers, got on the loudspeaker and said do not run, there is no emergency. And then things kind of calmed down.

But the park police just issued a statement saying that someone in the crowd interfered with a permitted event and that that person has been detained and an investigation is ongoing.

That's really all we can tell you at the moment. But there was that kind of a scare here a short time ago, kind of illustrating the tension around this event.

Right now, I'm joined by Raymond Whitfield, whose mother, Ruth Whitfield, was killed in the Buffalo grocery store shooting. He's here with his niece, Simone Crowley.

Raymond, your brother Garnell a short time ago addressed the crowd and said that until this happened to your family and that your family was kind of on the sidelines of the debate.

Going through what you've gone through, now coming here and speaking, what do you want people to know, people who have not been directly affected by gun violence, based on your experience, what do you want those people on the sidelines to know about this debate?

RAYMOND WHITFIELD, MOTHER KILLED IN BUFFALO SHOOTING: Let me say this. My mother was an avid watcher of cable news. So much so that the grandchildren would say, CNN again? But here were so many times that we sat there watching the victims of gun violence, cry with them.

Then the second it was over, we could wipe away the tears and pull ourselves together and go on with our lives.

But when you're standing here, these are the tears you can't walk away from. These tears will last a lifetime. And it's time that we recognize that this can happen, if it can happen in a grocery store at 2:30 in the afternoon to an 86-year-old woman who couldn't run if she wanted to, it could happen to you, anywhere, at any time.

It is time for this country to recognize the scourge of America is white supremacy. It is time to support an anti-white supremacy hate crime bill.

TODD: And you and your brother, your entire family have been very eloquent in delivering that message, and we thank you for speaking to us today.

We hope that you guys can get through the grieving process all right. It's impossible to really get through it.

WHITFIELD: We haven't had a chance to grieve yet, but we thank you for the sentiment.

TODD: Thank you very much for speaking to us, Raymond. It's that kind of personal message, guys, that has been delivered over and over again. Congresswoman Cori Bush just gave an impassioned speech about how she had been threatened by gun violence by a partner of hers years ago.

Again, people delivering these personal stories, bringing home the message that they want to get across here, that it's time for Congress to do something about ending gun violence.

But frankly, I've talked to a lot of people in the crowd today, there's not a lot of confidence that that can get done, Amara.

WALKER: That's a good point, Brian, this is not just someone else's story. This is our story, America's story. Thank you so much, Brian Todd, and to the others for their reports .

Coming up, a busy week in the nation's Capitol as the January 6th committee will hold three more hearings. We'll tell you what's expected in the days to come.

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[14:17:37]

WALKER: The January 6th committee will hold its next hearing on a Monday. It is one of three planned for next week. The panel says they'll first focus on former President Trump's effort to spread false information about the 2020 election.

This follows the committee's prime time hearing on Thursday that laid out in detail how the attack on the Capitol unfolded with graphic video and never-before-heard testimony.

They argued that the former president led a sophisticated seven-point plan to overturn the 2020 election, incite the Capitol riot, and subvert American democracy.

Jennifer Rodgers is a CNN legal analyst and a former federal prosecutor. Jennifer, thanks so much for joining me. First off, what did you think of Thursday's prime time opening statement from the panel?

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I was really impressed, Amara. It really exceeded by expectations. I thought that they needed to present the new evidence that they were talking about and really set forward in a clear and concise way the multipronged attack on democracy and our country that Trump and his associates perpetrated, and they did that.

Liz Cheney was methodical in the way that she set out the plot. They brought two new witnesses. And I thought the way that they used video, specifically when they overlaid the video of really gruesome violence at the Capitol with the president's words about how there was love in the air and it was peaceful, I thought was really, really compelling.

WALKER: Sources told CNN, Jennifer, that Attorney General Merrick Garland and other Justice Department officials were watching the hearing to see what crimes if any the committee thinks it has uncovered. Did you see anything on Thursday, any evidence of a crime?

RODGERS: Well, we've been talking about this for months and months as evidence has trickled out about what's been captured by the committee. And I'm not surprised Garland and his folks are paying attention.

It's clear the committee thinks that crimes were committed here and that they'll make a criminal referral to the Department of Justice, and then the Justice Department will have to decide what to do.

I do see evidence of crimes. The question is, what does that evidence look like when they put it all together? And can they reach the burden of proof of beyond a reasonable doubt that they have to reach that they're going to take this to trial.

So I do think, though, that there has been ample evidence of a conspiracy crime against the United States called a client conspiracy, and also a conspiracy that many of the insurrectionists from January 6th have already been charged with, a conspiracy to thwart Congress in doing its constitutional duties.

[14:20:10]

WALKER: And we were talking about this in an editorial meeting this morning, regarding the overall goal of the committee. And it seems like it's multifaceted, right.

It's not just getting legal accountability for those involved, or responsibility, but also for there to be political ramifications, and for the public to actually care and understand the significance of what actually happened on January 6th.

RODGERS: I think you're right. Clearly, they want legal accountability. Clearly, they want some political ramifications here. But this is a historic moment in our nation. This has never, ever happened before, a president trying to subvert democracy in this way.

So it's part of the historical record. And I think many members of the January 6th committee are very aware of that as they press forward. They want this to be in the record in one place, easy to digest, and they want the American public to know about it. That's certainly one of their major goals here.

WALKER: So what are you looking forward to in the days ahead in terms of what we might hear or see, and the line that the committee is trying to draw between Trump and these groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers?

RODGERS: So they are going to start making good on their promise to march through these seven components of this multifaceted plot. And they're going to give us the evidence.

We've heard about testimony that happened behind closed doors, but we haven't seen most of it. So I expect they'll start to actually show us the evidence, starting with the disinformation campaign, marching through to trying to subvert DOJ and get them on board with this plot.

I'm really looking forward to hearing about the evidence on the fraudulent slates of electors that came from seven states.

I really want to see all of it. And I think they've done a great job of telling us what's to come so that people will tune in. And I just really want to see what they've collected. I think it's going to be really powerful.

WALKER: Yes, a very important point in our history as well. Thank you so much, Jennifer Rodgers, appreciate it.

Still ahead, will anyone's mind be changed about January 6th after watching the hearings? And what could be the political fallout? We'll discuss, next.

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[14:26:44]

WALKER: The January 6th committee took its long-awaited case public this week. Evidence presented during the initial two-hour hearing jolting viewers back to the violent day and making clear the committee holds former President Trump responsible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LIZ CHENEY, (R-WY): President Trump invested millions of dollars of campaign funds, purposely spreading false information, running ads he knew were false, and convincing millions of Americans that the election was corrupt and that he was the true president.

As you will see, this misinformation campaign provoked the violence on January 6th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Here now to discuss, CNN political analyst and professor of history and public affairs at Princeton, Julian Zelizer, and CNN senior political analyst and senior editor at "The Atlantic" Ron Brownstein. Welcome to you both, gentlemen.

Julian, I'll start with you, because earlier this week you wrote a piece on CNN.com that the hearings are unlikely to change most Republicans' minds about the events of January 6th.

And I'm sure it doesn't help that you have the likes of FOX News who didn't even air the hearings live but had their hosts talking over these live feeds. Do you still feel that way?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. As powerful as the first day of hearings was, and I'm sure more is to come, it's still unlikely that the Republican electorate, which lived through many shocks to the political system during the Trump presidency, is going to change its position because of the findings.

And as you're saying, added to that is the spin and kind of information you're getting from conservative media, which would only strengthen those positions.

So in many ways the Republican Party, I think, might just double down and continue with election denialism, even if the hearings continue to produce very dramatic and shocking information.

WALKER: Look, we still don't know what the potential legal consequences or political consequences might be since there are several more hearings that we will be seeing over the next couple of weeks.

But Ron, Democrats are hoping that these hearings will boost turnout for them at the polls during this year's midterms. Do you think that is possible, especially considering all that's going on with inflation and all these supply shortages that we're facing?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, well, first of all, I'm less fatalistic about this having no impact on the public. During Watergate, Richard Nixon's approval rating among Republicans went from 90 percent in Gallup to 50 percent the day that he resigned.

Obviously, that's not going to happen, and not because of conservative media not covering it or rebutting it, but also because Republican elected officials, even those who are dismayed by what has happened, are not standing up and saying this is wrong, other than Kinzinger and Cheney.

Those kinds of elite cues were very important in Watergate, and it's a real circular logic with Republican elected officials saying we can't and say this is wrong because the base will turn on us.

One of the reasons the base is so unmoving in their refusal to acknowledge what happened is because no officials they trust are giving them other cues.

[14:30:00]

Look, could this change turnout on the margins in 2022? Sure. It is a reminder to the, I think it was over 90 million separate Americans came out to vote against Trump in either the 16, 18, or 20 elections. And this is a reminder of all the threats those voters saw.

But having said that, this is really more of an issue about 24 than 22. Midterm elections are a snapshot of the condition of the country at that moment, and as you point out, inflation and gas prices are overwhelming everything else.

I think this will be more relevant when the question comes in 24 about whether the voters want Trump or someone who is aligned with him to again control the powers of the presidency.

WALKER: It seems like the takeaway message is this threat to democracy could and will happen again if significant changes are not being made after this, Julian.

Do you feel like the significance is being brought home, especially -- and I think there were a few articles in "The Atlantic," Ron, that I read, where there is concern about dangers of using the shorthand "January 6th" where people aren't fully aware of the details, of the grave abuses that happened leading up and during on January 6th? Julian, this is for you, sorry.

ZELIZER: I think -- the way to think about it is, there is, will the hearings affect the short-term political environment for 2024? And the other is just the broader question. The responsibility of Congress is to create historical accountability to what happened.

And in doing that, we understand more not just January 6th on itself, but the entire orchestrated campaign to overturn the election, which then points to areas of vulnerability in our political system.

And those are important if discussions of reforming that system continue, including the Electoral Count Act, which now has bipartisan interest in fixing. So I think what the committee is doing might be very relevant on that

front and give us a better sense of the fissures in an election system we often take for granted.

WALKER: And I want just to ask that same question to you, Ron. Do you think, I guess, through these hearings, the public will become more aware of the significance and the details of January 6th?

BROWNSTEIN: As you were talking about in your previous segment, what's really important is the committee is reframing the basic question. The basic question we've mostly been discussing in the last 18 months or so is, what did Trump's words and actions, how much culpability did he have for the attack on the Capitol?

The committee is reframing this completely and portraying the attack on the Capitol as just one component of a much larger attack on democracy, this multistep, multi-month, multipronged effort to subvert the election from an American president.

And I think to a great extent, the success or failure of the committee will be on the extent to which they cause Americans to recognize the full breadth of what happened, and not only are most Republican elected officials looking away from it.

They are actively moving in the opposite direction, looking to operationalize Trump's lies about the elections, which efforts in red states both making it harder to vote and also increasing opportunities for partisan manipulation of the vote, and election deniers running for positions of control over election administration.

So there is an ongoing challenge here. And I think that is what the committee is really trying to point the public toward.

WALKER: No doubt the stakes are extremely high for this country and our democracy. We'll leave it there. Julian Zelizer and Ron Brownstein, thank you so much.

Ron, stick around, because we have more questions for you about increasing pressure to deal with rising crime in California and why it means a reckoning for some progressive candidates, what it means regarding that. We'll be right back.

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[14:38:25]

WALKER: Voters in two of the most liberal cities in America sent a clear message to the Democratic Party on Tuesday. They want their leaders to refocus on the most basic functions of government by ensuring their safety, protecting their quality of life, and restoring order.

Ron Brownstein is back with us. And Ron, the race to be the next mayor of Los Angeles is headed for a runoff. Democratic Congresswoman Karen Bass and billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso were the top two vote-getters in the recent primary election. This is a sitting congresswoman against a political unknown. Why was this race so close?

BROWNSTEIN: Partially it was close because Rick Caruso spent $40 million to introduce himself to voters of L.A. But even with that money, many people here, many political analysts I spoke to said a few years ago it would have been inconceivable that someone with his profile, a former Republican, white, developer, former member of the police commission, supported by the police unions, would have taken off.

And I think you saw in the L.A. mayoral race the same thing you saw in the San Francisco D.A. recall, which is that voters, as you said, want more focus on the basic functions of restoring order and safety.

That doesn't mean they've abandoned interest in criminal justice reform or that they have lost concern about racial equity in the criminal justice system. But I think they are sending a clear message that those goals have to be kept in tandem with providing safety.

I think what happened to the D.A. in San Francisco in particular, Chesa Boudin, was that he seemed to prioritize the interests of the very small minority of people who are ever accused of crimes over the broader public's principle concern with the criminal justice system, which is to it keep them safe.

[14:40:10]

So I think there's a clear message of rebalancing and recalibrating here for Democrats.

WALKER: You said the same for us, though, because I, being from southern California, I know what these conversations sounded like in talking to my friends in San Francisco about the rampant homelessness and the encampments that they're seeing.

Also in Los Angeles and crime being up, and a lot of the petty crime as well, including violent crime, which is also a major issue. But set the scene in terms of what Los Angelenos and people in San Francisco, what they have been dealing with on a day-to-day issue, basis.

WALKER: Right. This was as much about order as it was about safety. And the crime statistics in San Francisco, as you know, are actually kind of mixed, some areas going up and others not.

L.A. more consistent rise in crime. But in both cities, I think in many ways, the concern about safety is driven as much by homelessness as crime per se, fear of being mugged.

I think what's happening in both cities is there's a widespread sense among voters that the government and public officials have effectively given up on trying to protect public spaces for the public.

And in both cities, particularly L.A., there are large encampments, homeless encampments, that essentially are colonizing public spaces and creating an atmosphere where it is hard for people to get through their day without encountering someone who seems a threat to themselves or to others. For example, in Venice, Los Angeles, near where I live, the public

library, the quintessential public service, the city has allowed it to be engulfed by a homeless encampment to a point where longtime residents and people with kids feel like they can't use the public service.

That's an imbalance that is not sustainable politically. And I think you saw a very clear message from voters on Tuesday that they want a different balance in how the cities deal with these issues.

WALKER: Again, I read a piece you wrote on CNN.com ahead of the California primary warning that an earthquake was building in California elections that would rattle the entire political landscape in America. Is that's what's happened?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, look, I think it's already been developing. Obviously, Eric Adams won in New York, the mayoral race, on similar themes. We have Minneapolis, the voters there rejecting the ballot referendum to defund the police.

In large Democratic cities, people want a balance. I think it is a mistake to look at this as they are abandoning interest in criminal justice reform. The state attorney general, Rob Bonta, who has been a principle supporter of bail reform cruised through the primary this week.

But what they are saying is that that cannot be the sole goal, you cannot take that goal to an extreme that seems to jeopardize other important aspects of this, particularly public safety. And we're not doing it.

It's not clear that Rick Caruso is going to win. In the end it is going to be tough for him to get to 50 percent. It's going to be a competitive race all the way through. But there could be a recall against the equally liberal district attorney in Los Angeles County, George Gascon, who used to have the job in San Francisco.

They have until July 6th to get the signatures to put him on the ballot in November. And if they do, he's going to have a time. Polling shows his approval rating is underwater.

Again, it doesn't mean the voters -- we've gone back and erased the summer of 2020. It's not like it never happened. But I think there is a very clear message of a recalibration that voters are asking for that puts a higher priority on safety and does not seem to take reform to absolutist steps that leads to illogical results like people being picked up with guns repeatedly and being let out repeatedly and no consequences until they do something really dire.

WALKER: "Balance" being the key word here, right. And obviously the Democrats in Congress and the White House are watching very closely and getting this message as well. Ron Brownstein, appreciate you. Thanks so much for that.

BROWNSTEIN: And don't forget, there is a new episode of CNN's original series tomorrow night. What made John Dean decide to testify against Nixon? The Watergate scandal heats up with the CNN original series "Watergate, Blueprint for a Scandal," continues tomorrow night at 9:00 on CNN. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:48:55]

WALKER: The James Webb telescope had a bit of a space fender bender. One of the 18 golden segments of the telescope's giant mirror was hit by a micrometeoroid which is smaller than a grain of sand, according to an update from NASA.

Sorry, can't see that. But don't worry, the space observatory is still on track to share its first high resolution full color images on July 12th.

And if you look up to the skies and think you're enjoying a starry night, you minute looking at something else entirely. Thousands of small satellites are currently orbiting the earth and threatening to forever change our view of the night sky. CNN's Kristin Fisher has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Here in this remote stretch of Saskatchewan, a chance to see the brilliance of the night sky.

SAMANTHA LAWLER, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ASTRONOMY UNIVERSITY OF REGINA: That's so cool.

FISHER: But astronomer Samantha Lawler says that's changing, and fast, as more and more satellites get in the way.

LAWLER: For the first time in human history, we're not going to have access to the night sky the way that we've seen it since as long as we've been human.

[14:50:04]

FISHER: It only takes a few minutes of looking up with the naked eye to see what she's talking about.

Here's one. I see a satellite, right up there. There's another one, I see a second satellite right there. There's one, there's two.

LAWLER: Yes. Wow, that one is really bright, and really low.

FISHER: Oh, yes.

An assistant professor of astronomy at the University of Regina, Lawler has been watching from her farm as the number of active satellites has exploded from about 1,000 in 2017 to more than 5,000 today.

LAWLER: This is a lot worse than I expected. It's changing fast. FISHER: And it's about to get worse. Lawler and her colleagues created

this simulation based on their recently published predictions about satellite pollution.

LAWLER: This is the number of satellites in orbit right now that we're seeing in the sky, and this is adding in the tens of thousands more that are planned without any regulation.

FISHER: That's crazy. It covers the whole earth.

LAWLER: Yes.

FISHER: In less than a decade, Lawler predicts one out of every 15 stars in the sky will be a moving satellite. It's the dawn of what's called the mega-constellations, tens of thousands of small satellites, only about 300 miles above earth, launched by private companies --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one.

FISHER: -- that provide global high speed Internet access.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lift off.

FISHER: Elon Musk's SpaceX is responsible for a third of all active satellites, more than any other company or country, including the U.S. government. SpaceX has already launched more than 2,000 satellites with plans to launch at least 42,000 more for its mega-constellation called Starlink.

SpaceX has said, "We firmly believe in the importance of a natural night sky for all of us to enjoy, which is why we have been working with leading astronomers around the world."

And the company has made changes by adding a deployable visor to the satellite to block sunlight from hitting the brightest parts of the spacecraft. But astronomers like Lawler say it's not enough. As of now there are no binding international rules monitoring these mega- constellations.

LAWLER: We're already seeing so many now, today. And there's going to be 10 times as many.

FISHER: There's one. There's another satellite.

Kristen Fisher, CNN, Saskatchewan.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Starting tomorrow, travelers no longer have to test negative for COVID to enter the U.S. At midnight Sunday the CDC will lift its testing requirement. Experts say based on the science it's no longer necessary.

The CDC will reassess its decision in 90 days and only reinstate the rule if needed. The travel industry has been urging the Biden administration for weeks to end the testing requirement, arguing it was hurting tourism.

And to Mexico now, where a migrant caravan headed to the U.S. border now has up to 5,000 refugees, the United Nations reporting they've divided into three groups, and many of them are families with children still awaiting document processing as they continue their journey to America. CNN's Matt Rivers in Mexico with more details.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So this is the entrance to one of the busiest migrant shelters along the entire U.S.-Mexico border. This place is called the Yagafay (ph) Museom (ph) Mimial (ph) shelter.

It's in Tijuana, Mexico. And it is jampacked with people. More than 400 people are staying here at the moment. It's certainly not designed to house that many people. They're all over the place, migrants. People are crowding this entire area.

This building to your left has two floors, people are staying in both sides there. There's basically kitchens that are set up in various parts, everyone trying to help each other out to really just survive here in Tijuana, Mexico.

This kind of a scene, overcrowded migrant shelters, is something that we've seen a lot over the past couple years, but specifically in the last few months. The number of people arriving all across the U.S.- Mexico border from other parts of the world, those numbers have been staggering as of late.

We can show you down here. This is a permanent fixed facility, and yet these tents were just put up over the past couple of months to accommodate the overflow.

People have come here from all over the world, everywhere from Haiti to Venezuela and then to countries in Central America, for example, people have come here from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, even other parts of Mexico.

And I specifically mention those four countries because the Biden administration had really hoped that the presidents of those four countries, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, would all be attending the Summit of the Americas in California, and yet the presidents of all four of those countries declined to attend.

The Biden administration hoped those leaders would show up to try and tackle issues like immigration. Without those presidents there it gives you some sense of how much more difficult it will be for the Biden administration, for President Biden and his staff, to comprehensively discuss issues surrounding immigration at this summit, a real challenge for the administration.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Tijuana, Mexico.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WALKER: Some extraordinary images there. Thanks to Matt Rivers for that.

Thanks for joining me today. I'm Amara Walker in for Fredricka Whitfield. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now.