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At Least 12 Dead, 55 Wounded In 12 Mass Shootings Over Weekend; Garland Address Crackdown Of Illegal Guns On Streets; Barr: I Told Trump His Election Fraud Claims Were "Bogus"; Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) Discusses 1/6 Cmte. Hearing, Barr Told Trump Election Fraud Claims "Bogus," GOP Efforts To Shut Down Trump Fraud Theories & Ocasio-Cortez Won't Commit To Backing Biden In 2024; Russia On Verge Of Seizing Key Ukrainian City In The East. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired June 13, 2022 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

OMAR JIMINEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In total, we've seen at least six people killed and over 20 injured over the course of this weekend.

And believe it or not, murders and shootings are down in the city this year. But that's only compared to what was a record year last year.

And as we know, Victor, Chicago isn't the only city trying to find ways to curb gun violence. In Gary, Indiana, during a nightclub party, four people were injured, two of them killed.

Take a listen to someone who made it out alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My biggest concern was just making it out and not getting shot.

In the middle of them transitioning, there was a crowd that just started scurrying, and then you heard shots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: So that's in Gary, Indiana.

In Denver, you have six people shot at a party there, two of them fatally.

In Kentucky, you have five teenagers shot.

In Amarillo, this wasn't necessarily a mass shooting. But after an apparent road-rage incident, a man who was driving a truck allegedly shot an 8-year-old who was in the car. The 8-year-old needed to be taken to the hospital.

And CNN spoke to the father, who was driving his 8-year-old son, and said all he did was honk at this truck, who apparently had run a red light. And it's why he wants to see changes when it comes to guns, especially given the state of the country right now, to use his words. And when you look country-wide at the trends we've seen, we typically

see rises in gun violence in the summer months. But this recent uptick has been part of a larger three-year uptick of gun violence that goes back to 2020.

And when you look at statistics from the National Gun Violence Archive, the number of mass shootings we've seen this year is on pace for the highest number of mass shootings this country has seen on record since those records began being kept back in 2014 -- Victor?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Every Monday, we do this, Omar, every Monday, count the number of mass shootings across the United States.

Omar Jimenez, for us in Chicago, Thank you very much.

Moments ago, Attorney General Merrick Garland spoke and he focused on the gun violence epidemic in America. He had a message for anyone contributing to the spread of illegal guns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERRICK GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL: If you put illegal guns on our streets or into the hands of violent offenders, the Justice Department will spare no resource to hold you accountable.

The Justice Department is committed to doing our part to end the plague of gun violence. And we strongly support Congress' efforts to do so as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Joining us now, Ed Davis, served as Boston's police commissioner.

Welcome back.

Let's start with the attorney general there, because we focus on when A.G. Garland speaks.

But if you are the Boston police chief or you're at a police department somewhere across the country dealing with the surge of gun violence, are you waiting to hear from the attorney general?

If you are, what are you listening for?

ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: That's a great question. And absolutely what the attorney general just said is extremely important.

I have worked with the Justice Department in various capacities since I stepped down as the Boston police commissioner.

And I can tell you that there are United States attorneys in this country that are very focused on violent crime and very concerned about reducing homicides in the cities they're in charge of.

But there are others who believe their main priority is white collar crime. And I've run into this and seen it.

And I can tell you when the attorney general says what he just said, that sends a message to each one of those U.S. attorneys that they need to focus on this. They need to work with local police.

They need to put systems and prosecutions in place to target the individuals who are running guns out there, like we saw in the shooting in Philadelphia just a week ago.

BLACKWELL: Let's bring in our justice correspondent, Evan Perez, who was in the room for the remarks from the attorney general today.

Evan, good to see you.

Did he put any money, any new policy announcement or program announcement behind that commitment to stopping the spread of illegal guns?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Victor, the press conference today was to announce an indictment against somebody who was dealing illegally in firearms, buying 92 guns, most of them from one particular dealer in the Dallas area.

And according to prosecutors, 16 of those firearms were involved in incidents, including violent assaults, within the period of a year of the time they were bought.

What we heard from the attorney general is that he does believe that this new legislation that was announced, this new proposed legislation that was announced over the weekend by Senators, he believes could make a difference.

[14:35:02]

Could help the Justice Department try to go after some of these illegal guns, which is a huge driver of the violence that you see every weekend, not only in Chicago, but around the country.

And one of the interesting things that you heard from prosecutors there is that it's a very difficult -- they're very difficult cases to make for prosecutors and investigators.

I believe we have a clip of the attorney general talking about their effort, how much work goes into what they try to do with these cases. Take a listen.

OK, well, we don't have sound from the attorney general.

But what you heard from him is, you know, that this is obviously very difficult work. It takes a lot of manpower, womanpower from these prosecutors and investigators at the ATF.

But this is what -- this is what they have to do, given the limited tools they have from Congress to pursue these cases -- Victor?

BLACKWELL: Commissioner, let me ask you about this framework that this working group on gun law reform has come up with.

We'll put up some of the elements here:

Funding for mental health services, school safety, grants for states to enact their own Red Flag laws, enhanced review for process for buyers under 21.

This boyfriend loophole that is addressed, straw purchasing as well, penalties to clarify the definition of a firearms dealer.

It does not include the things that the president, other Democrats have suggested they want, bans on sales under 21 for the semiautomatic rifles, the extended magazines.

Do you think what has been proposed can make a big dent in the gun violence in this country?

DAVIS: I'm an optimist and I think the fact that there has been some agreement reached is encouraging. So I don't want to speak badly about what's happened in the Senate in the last couple of weeks.

I will say that some of these things will make a difference. Putting databases together for people who have made statements about being homicidal or suicidal, allowing gun purchases to be delayed until those background checks are done.

Those are things we couldn't really think about until recently. So that's really important.

But after the carnage we saw in Uvalde, not raising the age to 21, which I think is fairly simple, not having anything in there about high-capacity magazines or not having anything in there about, you know, waiting periods and other commonsense things that could make a big difference here, that is really problematic.

So I'm a little disappointed but it's a start. And I think that's better than what we've seen in the last decade.

BLACKWELL: Commissioner Ed Davis, Evan Perez, thank you.

So among the prominent lies that the January 6th committee presented today was former President Trump's repeated claims of voter fraud in Michigan. That's been a rallying cry for Republicans in that battleground state.

We will speak with the congressman from the state of Michigan next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:43:01]

BLACKWELL: Donald Trump's former attorney general, Bill Barr, played a starring role in today's insurrection hearing. He explained how he tried and how often he tried to debunk the former president's claims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BILL BARR, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL: He raised the big vote dump, as he called it, in Detroit. I mean, there's no indication of fraud in Detroit.

I told him that it was crazy stuff and they were wasting their time on that, and it was doing a grave disservice to the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: But the committee said, despite Barr's arguments, the former president's behavior did not change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is Michigan. At 6:31 in the morning, a vote dump of 149,772 votes came in, unexpectedly. We were winning by a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Congressman Dan Kildee is a Democrat from Michigan. He's the chief deputy whip of the House Democratic Caucus

Congressman, welcome back.

The committee today tried to paint this portrait of a president who was lurching from conspiracy theory to conspiracy theory. What do you think of the portrait they painted today of Donald Trump?

REP. DAN KILDEE (D-MI): What I saw is a president who was far more calculating than somebody who is just easily duped into nonsensical theories. He was quite calculating.

He knew that this was not true. His own attorney general told him it was false. His campaign manager told him he lost. His daughter said he lost. The people closest to him told him the truth.

And rather than accepting that, he knew he had lost, but he still did everything he could to cling to power. So this is not a person, despite the big differences I have with him, that is so stupid as to fall for this joke.

[14:45:01]

But he is calculating and dangerous enough to try to get other people to fall for it. And that's what was obvious by looking at what was presented to the committee.

BLACKWELL: When it comes to the question of, if this rises to fraud, and if the DOJ will file charges against the former president, you say that it was clear that he knew. How do you prove that?

The committee today put together this broad cross-section from the campaign, from the administration, who said, we told him that this wasn't true, but was there evidence that he believed it, and do you need it? KILDEE: Well, there's credible firsthand witnesses that he was told

these things. It's hard to get inside Donald Trump's state of mind. But he can't deny the fact that he was presented information that clearly demonstrated that he lost the election.

And also he was presented information prior to the election that showed that he would lose. So this was not an unpredictable outcome.

He's obviously a person who is so focused on clinging to power that he would do anything he could.

But it's impossible for me -- look, I've been trying to do this for five years -- to analyze Donald Trump's state of mind.

It is clear that he had possession of facts that were overwhelming in their demonstration that he had lost the election. He just didn't want to give up power.

BLACKWELL: Congressman, there are some people who believe the president's big lie, who are running for office to join the House of Representatives.

A primary win in Ohio for a Republican-leaning district, North Carolina a nominee for an open seat there, a winnable district for a Republican. There's even a candidate for Michigan governor.

What would it mean for these people to win, to join the institution?

KILDEE: Well, it would be pretty dangerous. Obviously, they're either not bright enough to discern the truth or disturbed enough to accept it.

And the effect it could have on a government that is already trying to reconcile issues in a really divided country, this could be really dangerous.

I know I have three Republican opponents, all completely draping themselves in Donald Trump and everything he stands for.

It's pretty frightening, even in the light of what we're seeing, that there are people who are doubling down on a belief that it's fairly obvious to me, that even Donald Trump himself didn't believe, why they would choose to believe it is a little difficult to explain.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about what we heard from one of your caucus members there. Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was asked by Dana Bash if she would support President Biden in a run for re-election in 2024.

Here is the exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): If the president has a , and that's something certainly we're all willing to entertain, and I'll examine when the time comes. DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE

UNION": That's not a yes.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yes, you know, I think we should endorse when we get to it.

But I believe that the president has been doing a very good job so far. And, you know, should he run again, I think that -- you know, I think we'll take a look at it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: That was, of course -- I imagine you saw the write-up in "The New York Times" about Democrats concerned about Biden running for re-election.

How widely is that concern, that fear of a re-election campaign by the president?

KILDEE: Well, I can tell you, from my point of view and most of the people that I work with, virtually everybody I work with, taking a look at the chaos in the Republican Party, I'll support the nominee of the Democratic Party.

I suspect that President Biden will run for re-election. I suspect if he does, he'll be the nominee. And I'm certain if he does, I and virtually all Democrats will support him.

So I don't see widespread concern about it. But we take one election at a time.

We've got an election in November to determine control of the House and the Senate and governorships across the country.

Our focus should be on the policies that cut costs for American families and trying to continue to do that work by continuing to stay in office.

Those of us who believe in those things, believe firmly in those. And we're going to focus on 2022. And 2024 will take care of itself when the time comes.

BLACKWELL: Congressman Dan Kildee, thank you for your time.

KILDEE: You bet. Thank you.

[14:50:35]

BLACKWELL: Russia is gaining ground on a strategic city in the eastern part of that country, a key to its goals of seizing the entire region. We'll talk more about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Russia forces are on the verge of seizing a key city in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region. Ukraine's military officials say that Severodonetsk could fall within days, and they are asking Western countries for help.

CNN White House reporter, Natasha Bertrand, joins us now.

Natasha, tell us about the fight, what you know about that. And what Ukraine's asking for. They want more weapons.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Victor. Intense fighting is continuing in this eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk. And that's where Russian forces have been pushing Ukrainian forces.

[14:54:59]

Including, as recently as this morning, we got an update from the Ukrainian armed forces who said that the Russians had actually pushed the Ukrainians out of the center of the city.

Now, this a key point of this conflict, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said that this conflict in that city could determine the outcome of the war in the entire region, of eastern Ukraine, in the Donbass region.

It's very notable that the Ukrainian are having difficulty pushing the Russians back from that very key city. And it's because, according to the Ukrainian armed forces, the Russians have just out gunned them.

Essentially, they have far more superior artillery. They have far superior air power. And they are just kind of bombarding the city with everything they have, and Ukrainians cannot keep up at this point.

They say that it's because they are just not getting enough weaponry from the West, not enough heavy artillery.

And this is something that a top Ukrainian adviser said on Twitter today. He said -- and I'll read this to you:

"I'll be straightforward. To end the war and throw the Russians out of Ukraine, we need parity and heavy weaponry."

And he said that they need as many as 300 multiple launch rocket systems. For context, the U.S. and U.K. have sent about seven to date. And they need about a thousand howitzers. Again, for context, the U.S. has sent just over a hundred.

To put it all in perspective, they are severely outmanned, out gunned, and they risk losing this very key city in eastern Ukraine if they do not receive heavy weaponry -- Victor?

BLACKWELL: Critical point for the Ukrainians.

Natasha Bertrand, thank you very much.

New details about 31 suspected white nationalists who police say were found masked inside a rental truck with plans to riot at a pride event in Idaho. The latest is just ahead.

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