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Biden to Announce Protections for Pension Workers; Daycares Forced to Raise Prices; Seven Dead in Illinois Parade Shooting; Boris Johnson Battles for his Job. Aired 9:30-10a

Aired July 06, 2022 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:33:48]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: CNN has learned Democrats are increasingly frustrated with President Biden and what they see as a lack of action and lack of urgency from the White House after a string of Supreme Court setbacks.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: While facing blowback from his own party on that front, the president is also dealing with a rocky U.S. economy. He heads to Cleveland today to highlight the economic agenda and announce new protections for American workers with pension plans.

CNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins joins us now live.

Kaitlan, the White House knows this is an issue for them. It is showing up in the polls big time. What's the president's message in response today?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he'll be there to talk about shoring up these pension plans that had faced potential insolvency amid the pandemic. Obviously a very tough time for so many Americans.

But this trip to Ohio, one that President Biden has made pretty frequently since taking office, does come as he is facing some very challenging headwinds at this moment. Obviously, inflation is just as much of a concern in Ohio as it is anywhere else in the nation where people there are pretty pessimistic about the economy, and they have these concerns about how high prices are and when they are going to come down and how long, of course, that's going to take. That's really been a backdrop of almost every stop that President Biden has made in recent months.

[09:35:01]

But also this one comes as there are some major concerns inside his own party about the overturning of Roe versus Wade. And while it remains to be seen if the president is actually going to address abortion while he's in Ohio today, he is facing some criticism from members of his own party that he hasn't really taken advantage of this moment, that he hasn't been forceful enough in speaking out about what happened. And, you know, there are limits, obviously, to what the president can

do unilaterally when it comes to abortion and abortion rights. But there are some concerns in his party that he should be doing more given the White House had such a head's up that this ruling was coming.

And, of course, this -- where he is today in Cleveland is just about an hour flight away from Highland Park, Illinois, where that shooting on the July 4th, at the parade, killed seven people now at this time, injured dozens more. And you saw Vice President Harris there last night renewing her call and a call that President Biden has also made about banning assault weapons.

But there's a lot of frustration in the country, I think, over this. This spree of mass shootings that are continuing at elementary schools, at parades. And, yes, the president has touted the bipartisan gun legislation that he recently signed, but I think there are big questions about what this is going to looks like going forward, whether Democrats are doing enough to stop this and, of course, you know, what the midterm elections are going to look like for their party come November.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: Kaitlan Collins, at the White House this morning, thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, as the U.S., as you and me grapple with rising costs at the pump, grocery stores, parents are facing another increase - you may have noticed - this is at day care centers. A new report shows that since the pandemic, nearly half a million families are estimated to be stranded without reliable daycare now.

HILL: Yes, it's hard to find a daycare. And then when you do, calculating the rising costs and the unreliability. CNN's Gabe Cohen found that parents, especially mothers, are being forced to make some tough career decisions.

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GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): At KidzStuff Child Care center in Baltimore, the cost of food, rent, power and supplies is soaring.

ANGELA KIDANE, CEO, KIDZSTUFF CHILD CARE: Everything is up.

COHEN: And Angela Kidane has raised wages roughly 40 percent, but is still struggling to hire staff, with one classroom closed and her waitlist growing.

KIDANE: We're probably up between 30 and 35 percent for operating costs. That costs too is going to have to be passed along to our parents.

COHEN: This fall, she'll raise tuition at her non-profit for the third time in 12 months. In all, up 30 percent. For some families, thousands of dollars a year. COHEN (on camera): What would happen if you didn't raise tuition

prices?

KIDANE: We couldn't survive. We wouldn't stay open.

COHEN (voice over): Programs nationwide are raising rates for the same reasons.

CINDY LEHNOFF, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL CHILD CARE ASSOCIATION: It's happening everywhere. To keep the doors open, this is what has to happen. And it's going to continue to get worse.

COHEN: Inflation is just part of it. At least 15,000 programs have closed with 11 percent fewer child care workers than pre-pandemic, leaving an industry with a median wage just over $13 an hour. Now many parents face longer waitlists and tuition hikes.

COHEN (on camera): The revenue is going down even though there's demand for it.

SEAN TONER, PRESIDENT AND OWNER, BEACH BABIES CHILD CARE: Because we just don't have enough teachers to be able to get the amount of children that we used to have into our buildings.

COHEN: Sean Toner owns Beach Babies in Louis, Delaware, a childcare desert. He's raising tuition 8 percent to 10 percent this fall for the second straight year to offset inflation and raise teacher wages to roughly $14 an hour.

TONER: I don't want to be that person that's driving away the parents.

COHEN: Jessica Gebbia is a teacher at Beach Babies and her five-year- old son comes here for daycare.

JESSICA GEBBIA, TEACHER, BEACH BABIES CHILD CARE: Most of my paycheck is going just to have him here. And that's rough because now we have gas prices, food prices, everything's just going up and up.

COHEN (on camera): Have you thought about leaving the industry?

GEBBIA: I love what I do. And I can't - these children need teachers who do love what they do.

COHEN (voice over): But many mothers have left the workforce, part of a trend. As of May, women's jobs made up 88 percent of those lost in the pandemic.

TO-WEN TSENG, MOTHER STRUGGLING TO PAY FOR CHILD CARE: This is Jasper.

COHEN: To-Wen Tsseng and her husband have struggled to afford child care in San Diego. $370 a week. Since the employer cut her hours in half. So, she flew the sons to Taiwan to stay with family as she looks for a second job.

TSENG: If I just like quit my job and I stayed at home and watched my kids, maybe the whole thing will be easier for my family. I hated to say this, but this is true. And the reason why we're struggling, trying to pay for this day - childcare, that's because I don't want to be give up my career.

COHEN: Millions of parents are making tough choices. For Jessica and her husband, a decision not to expand their family.

GEBBIA: We think we're just going to stick with the two.

COHEN (on camera): How much of that is childcare?

GEBBIA: The childcare plays a big part in that. I can't imagine having the two of them in daycare. There's just no way. I wouldn't be able to do this job.

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COHEN: Now, Build Back Better, which stalled in the Senate, would have pumped billions of dollars into the childcare industry, and, among other things, capped the amount a family could spend on childcare at 7 percent of their income.

[09:40:05]

Some states, they've gone ahead and passed their own childcare bills, but advocates in this space, Jim, are worried that without more federal investment this problem is only going to grow. Which means, for parents, they're going to be paying more and have more limited options.

SCIUTTO: Yes, hard to see how that (INAUDIBLE) gets through, particularly if Democrats lose the majority in the House and perhaps the Senate.

COHEN: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Gabe Cohen, thanks so much for following it. It's such an important issue.

COHEN: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Still ahead, a father who died shielding his toddler son. A mother who died running away with her 22-year-old daughter. Just imagine going through that. We have more o the stories, the seven lives taken in Highland Park, Illinois, and how those injured are trying to recover.

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[09:45:19]

HILL: This morning, as the 21-year-old man suspected of killing seven and wounding dozens more is expected to make his first court appearance, we're learning more about the victims of the Highland Park mass shooting on July 4th.

SCIUTTO: This is always one of the hardest parts of covering a story like this because, of course, the victims are not numbers, they're real people and they're going to be missed by so many.

CNN's Adrienne Broaddus joins us now.

So, Adrienne, what more can you tell us about some of the folks who lost their lives here?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, of course they were real people who were loved by so many. Among the deceased were Irina and Kevin McCarthy. We've learned they were at the parade on Monday with their two-year-old son Aidan. We also learned Kevin died trying to shield his son from gunfire. That is according to Irina's father who spoke with "The Chicago Tribune and Sun Times". Her father telling the local paper, he had Aidan under his body when he was shot. Also saying, after the shooting, Aidan, his grandson, was walking alone. That's a two-year-old who was present when his parents died.

But he's not the only child who was present. Cassie Goldstein was also there when her mom died. Listen in.

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CASSIE GOLDSTEIN, MOTHER KATHERINE WAS KILLED IN PARADE SHOOTING: I looked up and I saw the shooter shooting down at the kids. And I told her that it was a shooter and that she had to run. So I started running with her. And we were next to each other. And he shot her in the chest. And she fell down. And I knew she was dead. So I just told her that I loved her but I couldn't stop because he was still shooting everyone next to me.

She was just a good mom and I got 22 years with her. And I got to have 22 years with the best mom in the world.

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BROADDUS: The last thing Cassie Goldstein said, she told her mother was that she loved her moments before her mom took her final breath.

And we are also hearing from the familiar of Eduardo Uvaldo. And I want to read to you what the family shared with us via a statement, saying in part, we just received news that there is nothing left to do for our papi. Thank you for all of the donations thus far. All further donations will go toward assisting my grandma's needs when the time comes. This as the family has decided to take their loved one off of life support.

Jim and Erica.

HILL: Adrienne Broaddus, thank you. So important to remind people of each one of those lives and their families.

Still to come here, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson clinging to his job after a wave of resignations in his cabinet. We're going to take you live to the outside of parliament in London for this dramatic turn of events.

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SCIUTTO: This morning, the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, is fighting to keep his job and political career after a wave of resignations from within his own inner circle have left his government in chaos.

Erica, he's survived some close calls before, but, boy, this one is getting real close.

HILL: Yes, it certainly has. But, big question mark.

SCIUTTO: I know.

HILL: The current tally here, four (ph) senior cabinet members, more than 20 junior ministers have now quit. And the demands for his resignation are growing.

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KEIR STARMER, BRITISH LABOUR PARTY LEADER: In the middle of a crisis, doesn't the country deserve better than a zed (ph) list cast of nodding dogs?

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Mr. Speaker, the difference - the difference between this (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shh. We've got to get through the prime minister's questions. Prime Minister.

JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, the difference between this government and that opposition is we have a plan and they do not. And we're getting on with it. They want to focus on this type of issue, Mr. Speaker, we're going to get on with our jobs.

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HILL: I'm not exactly sure what a zed list cast of nodding dogs is, but I don't think it is a compliment.

CNN's Max Foster is live in London outside parliament.

I mean the prime minister's really facing some very serious questioning, more to come in this next hour here. Is there a sense at this point of how this is going to play out?

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, with more than 20 members of his government (INAUDIBLE) 30, I mean he's losing basically a member of government per hour ever since last night when those two senior figures, the finance secretary and the health secretary both walked out. It's been an absolute collapse in support, and everyone saying he has to go, apart from his cabinet at this point. So, waiting to see how long the cabinet lasts effectively.

If you imagine that most ministers, below cabinet level, are now out of government. It's difficult to see how the government continue -- can continue in its role. But absolute defiance as of -- from Boris Johnson. He says he's not going anywhere. He's got a war in Ukraine to deal with. He's got a cost of living crisis to deal with. I think we're really looking at the Downing Street back door to see whether or not the chief whip goes in there and, you know, people like Michael Goad (ph), perhaps someone that's worked very closely with him in the past, going in there and saying, you know, enough is enough.

[09:55:08]

You're not going to be able to survive any longer. It's very difficult to see how he can rebuild the support as a prime minister at this point. And there will be too doom and gloom about this, but, you know, the support has collapsed in an extraordinary way. And I think, frankly, any other Tory leader in the past would have gone by now.

SCIUTTO: Yes, the charge from the Labour leader, the charge - the charge of the lightweight brigade is how he characterized the prime minister's cabinet.

HILL: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Max Foster, there in London, thanks so much.

Still ahead, for us, the suspect charged in the deadly, horrifying Fourth of July parade shooting, he heads to court this morning. We are learning he legally obtained the gun used in that attack despite multiple encounters with law enforcement, multiple warnings missed.

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