Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Biden Blames Gas Stations, Retailers for High Prices; Thousands of Flights Delayed, Cancelled Over July 4th Weekend; January 6th Committee Could Make Criminal Referral Against Trump; Police Release Bodycam Video of Fatal Shooting of Jayland Walker. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 04, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

SANCHEZ: It was never as good as the original. And you and I have a dispute because I think that Jack could have fit on that door.

KEILAR: No. He couldn't have. Jack could not have it on Rose's door. In fact, I'm reading an article, and it doesn't matter where it comes right, I'm just telling you.

SANCHEZ: Right. Right.

KEILAR: Unless the wood was pine, mathematically impossible.

SANCHEZ: That's fake news. She let him die because she wanted to keep that jewel.

KEILAR: OK, Boris.

CNN's coverage continues right now.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Christine Romans. Jim and Poppy are off today. This is a special edition of CNN NEWSROOM.

Right now with Independence Day festivities kicking off all around the country, holiday travelers are facing a number of challenges. Hundreds of flight cancellations, high gas prices, thousands of flights were delayed or canceled over the weekend alone. We'll have a live update on that in just a moment.

We're also following protests in Akron, Ohio, after bodycam video was released showing the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man who was shot at least 60 times. 60 times. The police chief speaking out. More on that story ahead.

Also this morning, former President Trump is anxiously considering when he might announce a run for president in 2024. Playing into that decision, pressure to reclaim his image following devastating testimony from the January 6th select committee hearings.

But we begin in Washington this morning. President Biden will return to the White House in time for a Fourth of July fireworks tonight. Meanwhile, he's facing blowback for blaming gas stations for high prices at the pump. The president calling out companies responsible for setting fuel prices, tweeting, "Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you're paying for the product and do it now."

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins me now from the White House. Jeremy, how is the president's message being received?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, as you know, this July 4th weekend is a painful reminder for so many Americans of how stubbornly high these gas prices do remain. They have come down just very, very slightly over the last week or so. But the White House is saying that they should be coming down more, given the fact that the price of a barrel of oil has come down about $15 over the last month.

And that's why you saw President Biden taking to Twitter this weekend with this urging to these gas station companies to bring down the price at the pump to make sure that it reflects the price of gas that they are actually paying. That's earned the White House and President Biden some criticism, including from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who says that, quote, "It's either straight ahead misdirection or a deep misunderstanding of basic market dynamics."

Now listen, the White House hasn't actually offered any evidence for this idea that gas station companies are somehow misleading customers with the prices they're giving or holding back some of the savings that they're getting as the price of oil comes down. In fact, it's very complicated market dynamics that are more likely to blame here with volatile markets forcing these gas station companies to make difficult choices.

And usually those gas station companies are not the ones reaping these record profits as you see high gas prices. That usually goes more to the oil companies and the refiners themselves. But the White House is sticking by its comments here. The White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre firing back at Jeff Bezos, talking about the fact that the price of oil has come down $15 per barrel over the last month, saying that this is a market that is failing the American people.

But ultimately, what's very clear here is that President Biden doesn't have many tools to bring the price of oil down. He's already tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He's proposed this gas tax holiday that went nowhere in Congress. So ultimately, he wants to show Americans at least that he's trying here and that he cares -- Romans.

ROMANS: Yes. Trying to get the message out there. I feel your pain. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much.

Despite thousands of delays and cancellations, the TSA screened more travelers this holiday weekend than at any time since the start of the pandemic.

CNN's Nadia Romero joins me now Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.

All right, so, what are you seeing there? I know it has been quite a weekend for travelers.

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it has been busy, Christine. The busiest day was on Friday. Today things have tapered off just a little bit. So they just shut down one of the security checkpoint areas so all the travelers are moving down this hallway and they'll make their way around and around and then they'll go on the other side of this glass door here next to me.

And you can see that the travelers now are filling in these rows. Earlier this morning it was pretty wide open. I mean, you could just walk right up to the check counter. But now you've got rows of travelers. And as things are starting to slow down and it's getting more busy throughout the day.

Let's take a look at those numbers, though. TSA sending us an update on all the travelers who have checked in over the past weekend. And those numbers have gone up definitely for sure. If you look at Thursday, we're looking at 2.4 million Americans and other travelers that have gone through the checkpoint. Friday was the busiest day for travelers. 2.5 million, the busiest points since before the pandemic, since February 2020.

[09:05:03]

Saturday, 2.2 million and just yesterday, 2.1 million. So you did see those numbers go down a bit. The biggest concern, though, for travelers is not getting through TSA security checkpoints but it's just making sure that their flight is actually going to arrive, that it wasn't canceled or delayed. And we spoke with a woman who spent 22 hours in the airport because of two massive delays. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are pretty long lines at the help desk as well. I know a lot of people were frustrated. I think there were a lot of delays. There was also a lot of bad weather down south with raining and that any time there's a lightning strike, they delay it for another 15 minutes. So I know people were pretty frustrated. I felt pretty bad for the airport workers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: And you can see Megan had a smile on her face. She was taking it all in stride. She just spent 10 days in London, so she's just trying to get back to Cincinnati. And so she's trying to be positive and optimistic.

Today already, though, we've seen 140 flights be canceled and were up to more than 600 delays. And those delays have a domino effect.

Christine, I spoke with one couple. Now they missed their flight Sunday morning. So it wasn't the airline's fault. They overslept. They were supposed to take an 8:00 a.m. flight Sunday morning. But now they can't get on another flight until tonight at 8:30 p.m. simply because all the other flights have been oversold -- Christine.

ROMANS: Yes. Pack a good book, pack your patience if you're trying to travel on a holiday weekend here as so many are.

Nadia Romero, thank you so much that.

I want to bring in Gunter Olsen, a travel reporter and flight deal analyst at Thrifty Traveler.

So nice to talk to you. We got millions of people on the move. There are hassles and high prices and they're still traveling. You have this amazing pent-up demand that has just been unleashed this summer. And the airlines, they're just not kind of managing to keep up. What's wrong?

GUNNAR OLSEN, REPORTER AND FLIGHT DEAL ANALYST, THRIFTY TRAVELER: Yes, Christine. What we're finding is that the slack has been taken out of the system. I think the airlines are just stretched a little bit too thin right now. Travel demand, as we just heard, is back to pre- pandemic levels and people are ready to take to the skies again. The airlines, however, have proven over the last couple of weekends that they're not quite ready yet as far as their staffing levels.

ROMANS: Yes. And you can't -- I mean you can't train up a pilot in, you know, in 10 months, right? And so we know there are a lot of pilots who retired and had buyouts during COVID, the COVID era, so it's a whole bunch of structural stuff happening there.

Delta I know has instituted a travel waiver for people who want to change flights free of charge. We know that United and others have been actually cutting flights out of Newark and other airports just to try to make sure that they can -- you know, they can fulfill their promises, right, to passengers so they've been cutting some of these flights.

What can the airlines do to kind of ease this strain?

OLSEN: Yes, I mean, unfortunately, it appears like they're doing the best that they can. Delta's waiver is definitely them offering that flexibility to travelers, just to make sure they can get on a flight, you know, tomorrow or Wednesday, if they have a little bit of flexibility. But other than that, they just need to continue to quickly staff up. And that is way easier said than done. Like you said, it takes about 10 minutes to fire an airline pilot and it's going to take thousands of hours to get them trained up before they can actually take to the skies.

So unfortunately, it appears that we're going to be in for some pain here over the next couple of weeks. And I would anticipate that this summer might look a lot like what the last couple of weekends have looked like in our airports here.

ROMANS: OK. So what are the secrets? I mean, you don't want to book the last flight of the day, I'm assuming. And you want to be real careful about, I would say, O'Hare over the next two days, right? You don't want to be like connecting through O'Hare in the summertime if you can avoid it because of thunderstorms and all that kind of stuff. What are your secrets for people? OLSEN: Yes. Like you said, I would recommend if you can, go book that

first flight of the day. We know that these things -- the delays and cancellations have a ripple effect throughout the day. So, the first one, your flight crew and your plane are most likely to be there for that 6:00 a.m. or 7:00 a.m. flight, as painful as that may be for you.

I would also recommend if you can fly nonstop, do it. I know that's easier said than done, especially for people who live near regional airports. Also, I'd recommend don't check a bag if you can. We're finding that one of the major pinch points in our airports, the longest lines are going to be at the checked bag line, just to get the bag onto the conveyor belt. If you can skip that step, all you have is the TSA. And you're going to be good to go.

And then finally, I would recommend getting to the airport early. We just heard from that couple who said that they missed their first flight of the day. You know, control what you can control. If the airlines are going to cancel flights, make it their fault and not yours. You know, we make fun of dads and the memes of dad who like to get to the airport three-plus hours early, I think there are going to be a lot of vindicated dads traveling this weekend and this summer.

ROMANS: Yes. Being overprepared is the best way to avoid being., you know, being freaked out.

[09:10:02]

All right, Gunnar Olsen, thank you so much. Nice to see you today.

OLSEN: Thanks, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Join in for coast-to-coast fireworks and incredible music from some of music's biggest stars. "CELEBRATE THE FOURTH IN AMERICA" live tonight 7:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

All right, the January 6th Committee's vice chair, Republican Liz Cheney says the panel could make multiple criminal referrals to the Justice Department, including former President Trump. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): The Justice Department doesn't have to wait for the committee to make a criminal referral. And there could be more than one criminal referral.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Meanwhile, the other Republicans serving on the committee, Adam Kinzinger, tells CNN's Dana Bash, that last week's explosive testimony by former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson has inspired more witnesses to come forward.

Let's bring in CNN senior crime and justice reporter, Katelyn Polantz.

What more are we learning, Katelyn, about these potential criminal referrals by this committee? KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT:

Christine, criminal referrals have been a major political question hanging over this House committee for some time. Will they be asking the Justice Department to look at prosecuting certain crimes the committee believes they found during their investigation.

Now this is a political question and not a legal question because the Justice Department does not need Congress to tell it what to investigate. We know that prosecutors are already watching these hearings closely and there are already multiple criminal investigations into the rallies, into fake electors and into the riot itself.

But we do have this weekend Congresswoman Liz Cheney raising the possibility that the committee could formally ask the Justice Department to investigate Donald Trump, especially after that blockbuster testimony from White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson last week, revealing Trump's support of the rioters. Cheney said the committee will have to decide whether to make referrals.

We also got some other previews this weekend of what's to come in the House investigation. Representative Adam Kinzinger said in an interview Sunday that Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony was inspiring for a lot of people and has prompted more witnesses to come forward. And he noted that no one has come forward disputing the significant parts of what she said, that Trump wanted to go to the Capitol on January 6th or that he knew some of his rally attendees were armed.

And then there's Representative Adam Schiff, he gave a preview of the next hearing to come. Here's Schiff on Sunday on CBS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Our very next hearing will be focused on the efforts to assemble that mob on the mall. Who was participating, who was financing it, how it was organized, including the participation of these white nationalist groups like the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters and others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: So that next hearing will be about the connections between the White House and extremist groups, this effort to assemble the mob. But the committee has made clear in recent days and over the course of these hearings, their work remains focused on Donald Trump and those around him -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Katelyn, thank you so much for that.

So joining me now to discuss is former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti.

Nice to see you this morning. Happy Fourth.

RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Thank you. ROMANS: Committee vice chair Liz Cheney says the Justice Department

doesn't have to wait for the committee to make a criminal referral. I'm wondering how significant are potential criminal referrals from this committee? And will the DOJ be more likely to pursue criminal charges if they get them from the committee?

MARIOTTI: So, ordinarily what I would say is the opposite. Actually, ordinarily what I would say is that getting a referral from Congress in a high-profile case like this where they're already taking a look at it would just make, for example, would just make things seem more political, would potentially make any decision they make seem like they were doing it at Congress' behest.

That said, in this circumstance, it really does seem like the committee is going ahead of Congress. They are the ones who are pushing this forward faster -- excuse me, the committee is going ahead of the DOJ. DOJ, as far as I can tell, was not as aggressively pursuing this until the committee was, you know, coming forward with some of these interviews. So it may very well be that the public pressure here is actually spurring the Garland Justice Department.

ROMANS: Interesting. Representative Adam Schiff, who also serves on the panel, told CBS on Sunday he believes there is evidence that Trump engaged in multiple violations of the law and that that should be investigated.

From the evidence that you've seen so far laid out by the committee, what charges could the former president be looking at if the DOJ takes it before a grand jury?

MARIOTTI: I think the simplest would be incitement. It's actually a crime to incite people to commit violence. And ordinarily there's a very, very steep First Amendment bar there because generally the First Amendment protects speech, particularly political speech. But given that the former president knew that people in his audience were armed and he knew they were going to be heading to the Capitol, I do think that the DOJ might be able to meet that bar.

[09:15:07]

And there also is a potential charge for obstructing an official proceeding. We've seen others in connection with January 6th charged with that. I think those are the two most likely charges. There are some other charges that have been bandied about, but I think those are the two that we're most likely to see.

ROMANS: Let's listen to the committee member, Congressman Adam Kinzinger, on "STATE OF THE UNION," he said that additional witnesses have come forward after last week's testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR, STATE OF THE UNION: Congressman, since Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony, have new witnesses come forward to want to speak up? REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): Yes. Again, I don't want to get into who

or any of those details, and it's not even just Cassidy. And by the way, she's been inspiring for a lot of people. This happens every day. Every day we get new people that come forward and say, hey, I didn't think maybe this piece of a story that I knew was important. But now that you guys -- like I do see this plays in here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: It's interesting this angle here, this turn for the committee. You know, her testimony giving others the idea to come forward with more information. What could those witnesses be contributing to the investigation?

MARIOTTI: Well, one thing I will say is that there have been a lot of witnesses here who have not been brave, right, who have been hiding, who have been filing lawsuits, who have been trying to assert privilege, who have been trying to not testify. It really says something that a young woman has -- was not only very brave here but has inspired others.

I do think that, you know, one thing that this committee has really done very well is they put together every piece of the story, tried to weave them together in a way that tells a compelling narrative. And, you know, I think as Congressman Kinzinger mentioned, that really could help people see that pieces of the puzzle that otherwise weren't important could have a very significant role. So I do think that that's an interesting upside or aspect of these hearings.

ROMANS: Yes. It sure has been fascinating to watch.

Renato Mariotti, thank you so much for your expertise this morning.

All right, still to come, outrage in Akron, Ohio, after police released bodycam footage showing the fatal shooting of a black man who was unarmed when police opened fire. Officials say Jayland Walker suffered at least 60 gunshot wounds. The police chief speaking out this morning.

Plus, new CNN reporting, former President Trump feeling pressure to announce a run for the White House in 2024. Why the decision might come sooner than later.

Also the Ukrainian military withdrawing from a key city in the east. Russia setting its sights on its next major target. We're live on the ground in Ukraine.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:21:55]

ROMANS: Some July 4th celebrations are cancelled today in Akron, Ohio, after protests broke out over the fatal police shooting of Jayland Walker. Walker suffered at least 60 gunshot wounds when police officers fired their weapons at him during a pursuit one week ago today. Police say officers heard what was described as a gunshot coming from Walker's car.

Yesterday after days of protests and calls for justice, city officials released body camera footage of the shooting. We want to warn you, the video you're about to see is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, (EXPLETIVE DELETED) don't move. Don't (EXPLETIVE DELETED) move.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop the (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(GUNSHOTS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: CNN's Polo Sandoval live in Akron for us. The city released footage from 13 officers who responded to the scene there. What are you hearing?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And the release of that video, Christine, leading to flaring temperatures yesterday as people took to the streets. And that's one of the reasons why you're able to not only see but also obviously hear some of this heavy equipment that's being used by city officials to place large concrete barriers around the Akron Police Department as -- in order to try to cut off vehicle access ahead of what will likely be a very busy night again with demonstrations, though we should note there were no arrests made yesterday according to APD.

But back to that video, it really is disturbing to see. Now Akron police released that video in accordance to a recent ordinance that was passed requiring the police department to release segments of body camera footage within a week after police-involved shooting. And that footage is supposed to show not only the shooting itself but about 60 seconds leading up to the incident. And that's why we don't see the subsequent moments where you see the officers having subsequent conversations.

Now, Christine, as we get ready for you to hear from the police chief himself, it's also important to remember that authorities also released a still shot that appears to show what police describe as a muzzle flash coming from inside the vehicle being driven by Jayland Walker. In addition to that, police say that that perceived threat as he exited the vehicle wearing a mask is what prompted roughly eight officers to open fire with a barrage of bullets. And here's what the police chief said was most concerning for him based on what he saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF STEPHEN MYLETT, AKRON POLICE DEPARTMENT: When they make their most critical decision to point their firearm at another human being and pull the trigger they've got to be ready to explain why they did what they did, they need to be able to articulate what specific threats they were facing, and that goes for every round that goes down the barrel of their gun. And they need to be held to account. The officers have not been able to provide a statement yet. I am

reserving any sort of judgment until we hear from them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:25:12]

SANDOVAL: Now the chief did say that they have been cooperating with this investigation. And he also took it a step further and went ahead and said that at least confirmed those reports that we have heard from the Walker family that he was unarmed at the time of the shooting itself and that a gun that was recovered was actually inside the vehicle. The same car that Walker exited from.

So, again, right now the sights and sounds of what's happening here in Akron as city officials are bracing for yet another night of demonstrations by placing those large concrete barriers around the perimeter, at least portions of the perimeter of the police department here downtown.

Back to you.

ROMANS: All right, Polo, keep us posted with any new information you get.

Joining me now is retired Los Angeles police sergeant Cheryl Dorsey.

It's just hard to watch and listen to all of those gunshots. The medical examiner's report indicates Walker was hit more than 60 times. The shots continued even as his body was on the ground. 60 times. Is that excessive force?

CHERYL DORSEY, RETIRED LAPD POLICE SERGEANT: Well, listen, the optics are bad. It sounds bad. You have eight police officers and ultimately a total of 60 rounds. So we're going to have to find out eventually through their internal investigation how many rounds were fired by each of those eight individual officers. Police officers are taught and trained, at least on the Los Angeles Police Department, to fire two rounds in rapid succession and then reassess whether or not a threat exists.

What's going to be problematic, I think, is arguing with the officers in regards to their perception. It's very difficult to argue what is in someone else's mind when they use deadly force.

ROMANS: Yes, I mean, we say at least 60 because that's the medical examiner's tally. But the big question is, we really don't know how many rounds altogether were fired, right. We know how many struck him. We don't know how many rounds overall were fired.

What does that tell you about the shooting that we haven't been able to account for the number of rounds even fired yet? As he said, the police chief said, you know, they haven't even had a statement yet from these officers a week on.

DORSEY: Well, you know, there's a term that we use on the police department, contagious gunfire. And we have a suspect who's fleeing from the police, first in a vehicle. So be clear. He then gets out of the vehicle after firing a shot at the officers. And now flees on foot. And so that's how we get here.

So when the officers' minds, this is an armed, fleeing felon, a suspect who's running with a gun. And when shots are fired, it's very reasonable to think that other officers may have thought the suspect was returning fire and everybody shoot -- started shooting.

I think it's important to look at the tactics, certainly, that the officers used. Was there a plan? Did they have a designated shooter? Why did all eight of them shoot? And so there are questions that are going to have to be asked and answered but I think it's going to come down to what the officers articulate in terms of what was in their mind, what was their perception at the time that they fired.

ROMANS: Certainly know there's a lot of bodycam footage to go through and a lot of investigative work here. But it's just such a shame.

Sergeant Cheryl Dorsey, thank you for your perspective.

DORSEY: Thank you.

ROMANS: All right. Still ahead, new CNN reporting. Former President Donald Trump weighing an early launch of his 2024 campaign to retake the White House. How the January 6th Committee hearings are impacting his thoughts on timing next.

And U.S. markets are closed today for the July 4th holiday. Futures are still open, though. Mixed this morning. This after stocks closed up Friday about 1 percent across the three major averages. For the week, though, they were down between 1.25 percent and 4 percent, closing out one of the most brutal first half performances in more than 50 years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)