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U.K. Finance Minister, Health Secretary Resign In Sign Of Turmoil For PM Boris Johnson; Grand Jury Subpoenas Rudy Giuliani, Sen. Lindsey Graham In GA 2020 Election Interference Investigation; City On Edge, Protests Erupt Over Deadly Shooting Of Jayland Walker; Parents Go To Great Lengths To Protect Their Children Amid Illinois Parade Shooting; Pete Buttigieg, Transportation Secretary, Discusses Flight Cancellations Amid Record Number of Travelers. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired July 05, 2022 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:31:48]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Turmoil inside the British government. CNN has learned the U.K.'s finance minister and secretary for health have just resigned, raising new questions about the fate of British prime minister Boris Johnson.

CNN's Bianca Nobilo is following these developments.

So, Bianca, what happened?

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, it's been a big blow to the prime minister tonight. We have the resignation of the chancellor of the exchequer, which is the prime minister's right-hand man. And they literally live next door to each other.

Without the support of the chancellor, the prime minister can't really continue. So the chancellor resigned, writing that he had been loyal to the prime minister. He even supported him to become party leader.

But he said that he felt the public rightly expect the government to be conducted properly, competently, and seriously. And he felt, despite the economic circumstances in the country, the suffering people are enduring, that he would have to resign.

And we heard a similar sentiment from the health secretary, who also said that, despite the responsibility he felt to try and get the country back and running after COVID and fix all the problems in the health care sector, he felt like he simply could not continue.

Saying that he felt that the party was bigger than any one individual. And he said that the tone Boris Johnson sets as leader, the values that he represents, reflect on his colleagues, the party, and ultimately the country.

And, Alisyn, the significance of these two resignations is that since Boris Johnson has just narrowly survived a confidence vote, the only real mechanism to precipitate his resignation would be cabinet resignations like this, putting pressure on the prime minister.

And then usually someone behind the scenes would approach him and say, you really can't continue with this loss of confidence.

So we're now seeing great swaths of the prime minister's own party and his ministers and his cabinet feeling so frustrated, betrayed, let down, and lied to, that they simply don't know how to continue.

And the prime minister, thus far, has shown that he is simply completely opposed to resigning in any of the normal circumstances that a prime minister would resign in.

So many of the scandals that have beset Boris Johnson would have ended any other prime minister's career that day. Well, that hasn't been the case for him. But he may well be reaching the end of his road now -- Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Bianca Nobilo, really interesting developments. Thank you for bringing those to us.

All right, we have some breaking news right now. An Atlanta area jury, grand jury, I should say, just subpoenaed a handful of key Trump allies, including his former attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and Senator Lindsey Graham.

This is all part of the investigation into former President Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.

CNN's Sara Murray is here with us.

Sara, tell us about this. What have we learned?

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury that has been investigating whether Donald Trump or any of his allies committed any crimes in these efforts to overturn the 2020 election. This is a criminal investigation.

So, what we see from these new subpoenas is that this grand jury has subpoenaed information from Rudy Giuliani, from South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.

And from a handful of other former Trump legal advisors. So we're talking people like John Eastman, who we've, of course, heard a lot about during the January 6th investigation. Jenna Ellis, who was a legal advisor to the Trump campaign.

[14:35:06]

Cleta Mitchell, one of the people that was on that infamous phone call between Donald Trump and Georgia secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger.

And Ken Cheeseborough (ph), who was one of the folks who was in touch with Georgia officials while they were setting up this sort of fake elector scheme.

So, these are the folks that the grand jury wants to hear from.

Now, this is a grand jury, again, that's investigating Donald Trump and his allies. It's not one that can actually issue an indictment at the end of its work.

It's going to issue a report. And in that report, it will suggest whether it believes anyone should face criminal charges. And then the district attorney can take it from there.

CAMEROTA: Sara Murray, thank you for the breaking news.

So, more than 11 people traveled over the holiday weekend as airlines struggled to meet the soaring demand. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is going to be here to explain if it's working.

And we'll take you back to Highland Park. A woman was 30 feet away from the shooter, and she had to try to save her grandson. We will speak to her.

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[14:40:41]

CAMEROTA: Police in Illinois describe yesterday's parade shooting as random but intentional.

Survivors are now recounting the pandemonium.

One father describes how he had to hide his son in a dumpster:

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ALEXANDER SANDOVAL, WAS AT HIGHLAND PARK JURY 4 PARADE WHEN SHOOTING STARTED: He started shooting again, and we ran behind the building, and I put my son in a dumpster. And he sat there with his dog, and I went back to look for the rest of my family.

It was just horrible. I went back, there was a few people shot on the ground, and there was a little boy that was in somebody's -- one of the police officer's arms.

And that's -- that was the worst experience ever, because, you know. All I thought about was my son, and I can only imagine what that family's going through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Our next guest was also at the parade during yesterday's shooting. Bobbie Katz Hinden was with her 3-year-old grandson.

Bobbie, thank you so much for being here.

Tell us what happened. What did you do when you heard the shots?

Oh, Bobbie, can you hear me?

Oh. Sorry, everyone. I think that we're having audio problems there with Bobbie. We will get back to her as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the city of Akron is reeling from the police shooting of Jayland Walker. This is an unarmed black man who died after being shot by officers. We're live on the ground where a citywide curfew is now in place.

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[14:45:31]

CAMEROTA: The city of Akron remains under a curfew today as protesters continue -- protests, I should say, continue over the police killing of Jayland Walker.

He was fatally shot following an attempted traffic stop. And police say the unarmed black man sustained 60 gunshot wounds.

Dozens of protesters peacefully demonstrated outside the city's mayor's house yesterday.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is in Akron.

So, Polo, tell us what the scene is there.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Alisyn, it's been a very difficult 48 hours for people here in Akron since that video was released Sunday, particularly for the family of Jayland Walker.

Who tell me today that they have still not seen and do not plan to see that very disturbing and upsetting body camera footage that was released on Sunday.

In it, as we've discussed before, you can see the 25-year-old man fleeing from police officers last Monday. And it doesn't take long for those officers to perceive a threat, according to investigators. And then eight of those officers, all of them open fire with a barrage of bullets.

We now know, according to the police chief, that they believed that he reached for his waistband and took what was being described as sort of a firing position, and that is why they opened fire.

And moments before that, during the vehicle pursuit of the chase, that's when they reported seeing and hearing what appeared to be a gunshot.

Today, I spent some time in the medical examiner's office and was able to see firsthand some of the preliminary autopsy findings, including some of those images and you do see Mr. Walker covered with what appears to be bullet wounds all over his body.

The police chief saying that he likely suffered at least 60 gunshot wounds, though it will ultimately be up to the coroner to decide if that's a mix of entry and exit wounds.

Also, what we heard from the chief in the last couple of days is that it will be up to his officers to tell state investigators and to be able to account for each one of the bullets that left their barrel last week.

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STEVE MYLETT, CHIEF, AKRON POLICE DEPARTMENT; 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Though a pistol was actually found in the vehicle that Walker was driving, it's been officially ruled that he was not armed at the time of the actual shooting. But again, the big question here will be about that perceived threat.

Meanwhile, that curfew, it will be back in place again tonight, hoping for another peaceful night here in Akron -- Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Polo Sandoval, thank you very much for the reporting.

Back with us now is Bobbie Katz Hinden. She was hiding with her 3- year-old grandson during yesterday's shooting.

Bobbie, sorry about that technical glitch. Can you hear me?

BOBBIE KATZ HINDEN, ATTENDED HIGHLAND PARK PARADE & SAW SHOOTING VICTIMS: I can hear you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Thanks, Bobbie. I appreciate you sticking with us.

Tell us what happened when you heard the gunshots. What did you do?

HINDEN: Well, I had arrived early at the parade, which I knew I had to do. I've been coming to these parades for 30 years.

And when I got there, actually, my spot was taken. So I went across the street to set up.

And my 3-year-old grandson and my two adult children were with me. We were watching the mayor walk by and the ponies and the marching band.

And then suddenly, we heard this loud -- loud pops. They weren't even pops. I don't know what to call them. And then a pause.

And we looked at each other, and, like, had no clue what that could be. And people started screaming. And I looked forward, and I saw a couple of people on the ground.

And we stood up and grabbed my 3-year-old grandson and ran down the street and crouched in the doorway of a store that was closed with about 10 other people.

And I knew the whole time that this was not a safe place to be. We were completely exposed. But I had no idea where the gunshot was coming from.

We stayed there a while. Some of the kids standing with us were crying. And people were just looking at each other in horror. And my little grandson was just plastered up against the wall behind us.

We waited a while until it was quiet. And I looked at my daughter, and I said, we can't stay here. We're still, like, out in the open.

So, we decided to walk -- I live two blocks away, literally two blocks away. We decided to make our way home.

[14:50:03]

And as we made it through the plaza across the street, I saw bloody bodies. And all I wanted to do was protect my 3-year-old grandson from seeing that. And we did. We shielded him. We made our way very quickly home.

Still just in incredible disbelief. And I live on a first floor of a condo with windows, and we immediately closed the blinds and stayed sheltered and we were there all day.

CAMEROTA: Bobbie, I mean, it sounds -- it sounds terrifying. I'm so sorry you had to experience that and see that.

Has your 3-year-old grandson said anything about everything that happened yesterday?

HINDEN: You know, I think we were fairly fortunate. You know, his main goal in coming to the parade was to get some candy. And later on, he said to us, where's my candy? And we were able to provide.

But I do think he was very aware that something was off. We were all on our phones all day. And he kept saying, why is everybody on their phones?

And when his mama stepped out a little bit to see what was happening, he immediately said, mama come back.

And so it remains to be seen. You know, trauma happens so quickly with little ones, and we have to pay attention to what he says and what he does. But I'm hopeful that he'll get past this.

CAMEROTA: Yes, but I take your point that, even if he doesn't know what's different, he knows there's anxiety about something. He wants his mother close to him, even if he can't define it.

Bobbie, I understand that you run a childcare center and you work with toddlers and young kids. So are you going to talk to them about it?

HINDEN: That's right.

CAMEROTA: I mean, what's the way to talk about this with kids?

HINDEN: Absolutely. We had a team meeting this morning with a mental health professional where everybody was able to share their feelings and their own experiences about the day.

And then we will reach out to all of the families we work with and make sure that they are getting the support they need.

There's really an outpouring of support in this community, which is characteristic of this community.

And we will make sure everybody gets what they need, whether it's the counseling or the food or whatever services they need right now.

CAMEROTA: And, Bobbie, are you ever going to take your grandson to a parade again?

HINDEN: That's a really good question. I'd like to think that my life can go on.

I do want to say, Alisyn, that this morning, when I told my kids, my adult kids that I was going to join you, they were shocked that I said yes. And they said, mom, just tell your story, don't be political, and I said, OK.

But I do have to share with you that I'm done. I don't want people's prayers. I don't want their sympathy. We have to do something about this. This is craziness.

The grief that goes on in communities over this, all across our country, it's got to change. And people have to get up and make something happen.

CAMEROTA: Bobbie, you're not alone in your thoughts. I sometimes get the e-mails from people who say it's too soon to talk about this. We talk about it unfortunately, regrettably, every week.

It's not too soon. We have to figure out some solution and a way to do it --

HINDEN: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: -- differently.

Bobbie, thanks. I really appreciate it. I know this is a traumatic time for your family.

Thank you very much for taking the time to talk with us.

HINDEN: You're welcome. You're welcome, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Meanwhile, gas prices may have dropped for a third consecutive week but they're still uncomfortably high for most Americans. I'm going to talk to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about what more the administration can do.

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[14:56:10] CAMEROTA: For the 30th day in a row, the TSA screened more than two million people at airports. On Friday alone, TSA screened nearly two and a half million passengers. That's the highest number since February of 2020.

And despite the thousands of cancellations, this weekend was smoother for travelers compared to last weekend.

Let's discuss all of this with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Secretary, thank you so much for being here.

As I understand it, there were more than 2,200 flights cancelled this past weekend. That's a lot. Can we do better than that?

PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We can. Look, we saw cancellations around 3 percent. You really, in typical years, would be look at or under 2 percent.

An improvement, especially compared to Memorial Day weekend and, you know, after Memorial Day weekend, I gathered the airline industry to talk about this issue going into the July 4th holiday weekend, which brought some of the busiest travel days of the year.

I had another round of conversations with airline leaders just to talk about what can be done to head off cancellations. We have seen some improvements but we have a long way to go.

And my department is going to adhere to make that we've got passenger's backs, have consumers backs, as people are navigating this.

It's great news that demand is back and people are returning to the skies. But the airlines need to be prepared to service the tickets they sell.

CAMEROTA: When you have these conversations with airline services, do you understand why they're not prepared? Or what do they tell you?

BUTTIGIEG: We have seen a number of different overlapping issues. Some of it has to do with staffing. A lot of pilots were invited to take early retirement. Air crews weren't brought back at the level we needed.

Nobody thought or at least the airlines haven't predicted demand would come back as soon as it has.

We have seen a lot of steps they're taking on that, increased pay for regional pilots, which we think is going to help with the pressure on the availability of pilots and other measures that should make a difference.

But this is clearly a real issue for the airlines.

Weather has played a role. But, you know, weather plays a role every year. And we're seeing elevated cancellations relative to a normal year.

We're working on any of the issues that we have any control of as a department. When you look at our air traffic control system, for example, that is not explaining the majority of cancellations and delays.

But there are issues there, too, with some aftershocks from COVID impacting staffing.

And so we've been collaborating with the airlines when that comes up to make sure we can predict where the needs are and allocate resources to where they need to be.

CAMEROTA: Senator Bernie Sanders said in a tweet this weekend basically saying the airlines need to, you know, be held accountable.

He says, "The airlines just got $54 billion in taxpayer money. They said thanks by jacking up ticket prices 45 percent and stranding passengers at crowded airports. Enough."

"It's time for the Transportation Department to impose massive fines on poor performing airlines and full refunds for long delays."

What do you think about those suggestions?

BUTTIGIEG: It's definitely true that a lot of passengers are wondering why we sent this level of taxpayer funding for the airline industry only to see them not to be prepared at a moment like this.

I will say I didn't see it acknowledged in the letter. But we imposed record level of fines with the enforcement powers of my department on airlines that were failing to deliver their refunds that are required for passengers whose flights are cancelled. That's something we did earlier.

We're looking at more steps and tools that we have. We will use the enforcement power of the department to help support passengers or consumers who get stranded or delayed.

But of course, what we want is to prevent that from happening in the first place, and that's a conversation I'm having with the airlines.

[14:59:54]

CAMEROTA: OK, let's talk about gas prices. The national average is trending down. But it's still, you know, very high. I think the national average is $4.80.

Is there anymore that can be done at the federal level?

BUTTIGIEG: Well, there is more. The president has called for Congress to look at a gas tax holiday.