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Inside Politics

Trump Lashes Out At Sen. McConnell During RNC Speech; Sen. Manchin & The Fate Of President Joe Biden's Agenda; Interview With Michigan Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist (D). Aired 8-9a ET

Aired April 11, 2021 - 08:00   ET

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

(MUSIC)

[08:00:33]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST (voice-over): A Republican retreat in Palm Beach. Is it still Trump's party and is the GOP really ready to battle big business?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): My warning is to corporate America is to stay out of politics.

PHILLIP: Plus, Joe Manchin pleads for compromise on President Biden's infrastructure bill.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): The Senate was created to be bipartisan. Let's start acting like it.

PHILLIP: And a new surge threatens to overwhelm the Upper Midwest.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first day I saw that our unit was filled with COVID patients again, I had tears in my eyes.

PHILLIP: We'll talk to Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIP (on camera): Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. I'm Abby Phillip. And to our viewers from United States and around the world, thank you for spending part for your weekend with us.

We start this morning in Palm Beach, Florida, where the RNC is holding its annual spring donor retreat and the star attraction is former President Donald Trump whose Mar-a-Lago resort just happens to be a few miles away from where most of the events were held.

And so, last night, hundreds of RNC members and donors went to see him. A source tells CNN that Trump spent most of his remarks repeating his election lies and lashing out at his perceived enemies in both parties, including his former Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Mitch McConnell for not pushing to overturn the election.

If that were Schumer instead of that dumb son of a "B" Mitch McConnell, they would never have allowed it to happen, Trump said.

The comments were met with huge applause and Trump's dominance over his party is clear and it goes well beyond just the location of the donor meetings. The GOP continues to wage culture wars and double down on election lies rather than debate policy.

Last week, Fox News guests and hosts mentioned corporate cancel culture and boycotts 792 times versus 377 mentions of President Biden's infrastructure proposal.

And joining us now with the reporting and insights is Jonathan Martin of the "New York Times", and "The Cook Political Report's" Amy Walter.

J-Mart and Amy, thanks for being here this morning.

Jonathan, look, last night was supposed to be all about how much Donald Trump is still running this Republican Party. What did we learn based on what we're hearing about what has come out of this retreat this weekend?

JONATHAN MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think the most important thing we learned is that he very much wants to keep stoking this fight with Senator Mitch McConnell. And it's just extraordinary if you take a step back and look at this through the lens of history for a recently departed president to be litigating three months out of office a feud with his party's current Senate leader and explicitly personal terms, too, is extraordinary.

And I think it creates challenges for the senators. You know, Trump did that knowing full well that a bunch of McConnell senators had come down to Mar-a-Lago for the event. And so it puts them in a tough spot and obviously he's trying to bait McConnell here.

I don't think McConnell wants to engage in this back and forth. But Trump is going to make it more difficult now. I think that has implications for party unity and for, you know, trying to win these primaries next year so they can take back the Senate.

That's a long way away. And I think the first midterm favors the party out of power. We shouldn't put too much into this. But Trump, obviously, is a real complication.

PHILLIP: Yeah, and, Amy, you know, going into this, we were sort of given some indication from his prepared remarks that Trump was supposed to talk about helping Republicans win in Congress, criticizing Biden over his policy, but the real headlines ended up being more of the same, personal attacks, grievance, sort of this kind of self-centered view of politics.

So, you know, how does that set Republicans up to j. Mart's point into these midterm elections? Is it going to be more of the same, cult of personality from the Trump Republican Party?

AMY WALTER, NATIONAL EDITOR, COOK POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, it's notable that Jonathan said, let's go look through the lens of history. You don't have to go back that far. Just go back a couple months to January and the runoff elections in Georgia when that was the centerpiece of President Trump's campaign for the two Republican senators and that fell flat.

[08:05:09]

You lost two Senate seats on this sort of grievance about the election. It suggests it's not going to be particularly helpful in a midterm election.

Look, what normally brings the party together in a midterm election, they're unified against the party in power. And the point on policy is that they are unified against Biden and the Democrats' policies, but Biden himself is challenge for somebody like Donald Trump because he doesn't give him the sort of easy personal caricature and target that so many other Democrats were.

PHILLIP: Yeah, it's challenging to create a boogeyman for Joe Biden, which is a problem that Trump has had since the election.

But J-Mart, one of the other big headlines this week was about a former House Speaker John Boehner's new book in which he contextualizes really a lot of what we're talking about here. And there are a couple of parts of it.

One, he's very clear about Donald Trump's role in the insurrection. He said: Trump incited a bloodily insurrection for nothing more than selfish reasons, he perpetuated by the B.S. that he shoves since he lost a fair election in the previous November.

He claimed voter fraud without any evidence and he also said later, I don't think I could get elected in today's Republican Party, anyway. I don't think Ronald Reagan could either.

I mean, he's right. He couldn't get elected in this Republican Party.

MARTIN: I read the Boehner book and he's very blunt about his view of politics today and certainly of his own party. I think, Abby, that's basically a consensus view of a lot of former members of Congress who were Republicans or those who are near the end of their careers and have liberty to be more blunt about things.

I just am skeptical, though, that you can get away with saying those things and still survive in a primary. We're going to have a test next year in a few states as to whether that's possible or not.

But I think if you put a lot of these folks on truth serum, they would say the same thing about the election and January 6th. The challenge for the party is that two-thirds of their base doesn't want to hear it. So, if your voters don't want to hear it, that kind of ties your hands.

PHILLIP: Right.

But, Amy, look, he talks a lot in this book about the Tea Party and actually is very critical of the Tea Party. But, I mean, give us the truth here. Going back and looking at how John Boehner really dealt with that faction of the Republican Party which was a precursor to Donald Trump, I mean, did he really push back on these very same forces that led to Trumpism today?

WALTER: Well, that's always the challenge, right? He sort of admits that. I don't have the book, but just seeing the excerpts of it, watching that class of 2010 come in and thinking, great, here's my majority. We can do all these things, and recognizing pretty early on that they weren't coming there to do stuff. They were coming there to oppose stuff.

And they really wanted to really be a force of destruction rather than construction. And it's only gotten worse because the incentives are still there, right? Getting as many hits as you can on Instagram or, you know, getting the money that's coming in through small dollar donors.

We know that still works and the old model doesn't. The question in any mind is, can anyone do it in a way that Donald Trump did? Folks are hoping they can be the next Donald Trump, Republicans are, but I don't know if they can do that, to grab on the grievance in the same way, match it with the populist rhetoric and take it --

(CROSSTALK)

MARTIN: And the celebrity --

WALTER: It only took him so far.

PHILLIP: One thing that has bubbled up this week is this issue with corporate America. And I want to play what Texas Governor Greg Abbott said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS: Businesses need to focus on their job, advancing the cause of the shareholders and stay out of the political arena.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: By stay out of the political arena, I think he's referring to social issues like transgender bills and voting, so on and so forth.

So, J-Mart, I mean, is the Republican Party struggling to kind of keep donors on their side while also not wanting to be pressured on some of these corporate issues that corporations are taking the other view of?

MARTIN: Yeah, I mean, it's the party of business. And historically, that's been its DNA. I don't think that's changed.

[08:10:01]

I think it still tends to be, obviously, you know, pro tax cut, light regulation, not terribly enthusiastic about organized labor. I don't think that's changing. I think the sort of discomfort here is that they see business intervening in areas where business hadn't typically intervened, that isn't directly related to the balance sheet, as Governor Abbott there reference.

But, look, business is facing pressure from two important groups. Their own employees and a lot of their customers and their businesses, their entire purpose for being is to make money. And when the people who help them make money and the people who give you money, your customers, are upset or moved or passionate, then you're going to respond to that. I think that's what's causing the tension here.

I'm skeptical it's going to cause some larger divorce with the Republican Party because on most bread and butter policy issues that affect business, I don't think they're going to move.

PHILLIP: Amy, how do you see this?

WALTER: Yeah, I think Jonathan is exactly right. And Donald Trump found a way to match both, right? He could give the big companies the tax breaks and less regulation, while also stoking this populism about woke corporate culture and raising tons of small dollar donor money off of it.

So that was that balancing act that the president was able -- President Trump was able to pull off. It's interesting too to hear Governor Abbott complain about this. Remember, this is the sort of be careful what you wish for.

For years, Republican governors in places like Texas have said, look at us, we stole all of these companies from blue state that is have high taxes and high regulation. Well, guess what? Many of those companies not only brought their employees, but a culture that has more in common with the blue states than the red ones.

PHILLIP: And to that point, we have a graphic showing all of these fast-growing counties in America where many of these corporations are moving to in the shift from 2008 to 2020, it has -- in all of those cases, Maricopa County, Harris County, Tarrant County, Cobb County, has gone much more blue, in some cases from deep red to blue in 2020. So, that is one of the big factors coming into play here with these corporations as well.

J. Martin, Amy Walter, stay with us.

Coming up next, President Biden promises to find common ground on his infrastructure bill and Joe Manchin isn't giving him much of a choice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:17:09]

PHILLIP: President Biden pushed through his enormous COVID relief bill without any Republican votes and without spending much time trying to get them. But his even bigger infrastructure bill, he insists, will be different.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH R. BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Democrats and Republicans will have ideas about what they like and what they don't like about our plan. That's a good thing.

That's the American way. That's the way democracy works. Debate is welcomed. Compromise is inevitable, changes are certain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: But he may not have any choice this time around. Biden cannot pass anything without Senator Joe Manchin's vote and Manchin told CNN's Lauren Fox that his vote will depend on whether Democrats at least try to win over Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANCHIN: The more things that we do without trying to make this process work and allow the minority to be involved, the further apart we become as a party.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But do you think they want to be involved? I mean --

MANCHIN: I think so. Why are you here if you don't want to be involved? Why you run for the Senate?

Every time I talk to my friends, they want to be involved. You might have a different idea, but they want to be involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: So, Amy, I want to play a little bit of what Senator Rob Portman told our colleague Jeff Zeleny this past week about where the compromise could possibly be on infrastructure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ROB PORTMAN (R-OH): Only about 20 percent of it is infrastructure. And that is using a generous definition of infrastructure. But that would be $500 billion or $600 billion of his bill is really infrastructure. If it's focused on infrastructure, I think there will be a lot of bipartisan buy-in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: Amy, if, you know -- I think some people would say reasonable, moderate Republican Rob Portman says, I'm their 20 percent of the way, how does Joe Biden get to a real compromise on a infrastructure bill if that is the starting point for many Republicans?

WALTER: Right, how do you find nine more Rob Portmans? And that's the other --

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: Nine more Rob Portmans for 20 percent of the $2 trillion infrastructure bill. WALTER: That's right. It seems pretty clear that this is going to go

through on reconciliation. This is going to need 50 votes. So, Joe Manchin is the most important person in this conversation. And I think what -- if you're the White House, what you're banking on is the fact that you do -- you're in negotiations, you reach out, you negotiate with Manchin, make sure there's stuff in there that he likes and can sell.

Because the biggest issue for Democrats in the midterm elections is Joe Biden's popularity, right? Are people happy with what he's been doing for the last year or so? And his success keeps Democrats in control of the Senate, in control of the House. If he fails, that's going to make it really hard and he'll see his approval ratings go down.

[08:20:04]

PHILLIP: In some ways, what we're hearing from Manchin is actually a little bit of what we were hearing from candidate Joe Biden when he was running for the presidency. Take a listen to this from way back in 2019 when Joe Biden was running for this office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Some of these same people are saying, Biden just doesn't get it. You can't work with Republicans anymore. That's not the way it works anymore.

Well, folks, I'm going to say something outrageous. I know how to make government work. I've worked across the aisle to reach consensus, to help make government work in the past. I can do that again with your help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: So, Amy, is Joe Manchin helping Joe Biden be the president he campaigned to be?

(LAUGHTER)

WALTER: Right. He's getting pulled to the center from his own party, not from Republicans. Interestingly enough, you can argue this happened during the Obama era as well, right? It was -- there were so many more moderate Democrats at that time, from places like Nebraska and North Dakota, and Louisiana, pulling the party further to the center than it was Republicans, of which there were still just a handful that were helping to moderate the party.

Now it's just Joe Manchin and I think, again, at the end of the day what Democrats want to see are Ws on the board.

Interestingly enough, I think what I'm also not hearing about is any discomfort from moderate Democrats in the House, at least not yet. Nancy Pelosi has a very narrow -- narrower than she had on Election Day -- because there are still special elections that need to fill Democratic seats. So, she can only afford to lose a couple of members on her side too. I'm waiting to see if we're going to start hearing, if we don't, that will -- that will be really telling.

PHILLIP: Right.

Jonathan is back with us.

I want to play a little bit more from our interview with Joe Manchin this week where he talks about what propelled him to have this hard and fast rule on bipartisanship. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANCHIN: January 6th changed me. I was clear with everybody. I never thought in my life, I never read in history books to where our form of government had been attacked at our seat of government which is Washington, D.C., at our Capitol, by our own people. And something's wrong. You can't have this many people split where they want to go to war with each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: Jonathan, help decode this for me. How do you get from -- how do you get from January 6th, the lies told that caused an insurrection, to we got to work with the other side at all costs?

MARTIN: Because that's his passion. He desperately wants to make the Congress work. He comes from a state that's full of people who voted for Trump but who culturally, you know, probably aren't that opposed to a more Democratic economic agenda if we're being honest, because that's sort of their DNA there. It's certainly who Joe Manchin is. He's kind of a Kennedy Democrat.

And I think he desperately wants to get the company to a place where it can fulfill the Biden campaign rhetoric that you played, Abby, in that earlier piece of sound from that now president. And I think that's really his passion.

I would just add, having been in the capital quite a bit the last few months, there are a lot of Senate Democrat moderates who are happy to let Joe Manchin take center stage but I think feel close to where he is in terms of trying to find more consensus and push a more centrist agenda here.

They're not as loud as he is. And I don't think they want to alienate the left. But I think there's some folks who are okay with keeping the filibuster in place, who just don't say it as much as Joe Manchin does.

PHILLIP: Right. Well, can I just -- to that point, is it more that he thinks that the agenda coming out of the house of representatives is too liberal or that it's about actually getting Republicans to come over?

MARTIN: Abby, I think it's both. He told me that he views what's coming from the House as too progressive. He said it will probably lead to the demise of the Democratic majorities next year. But I think he also is consumed with process for the sake of process. He really wants to see the Senate function.

And it's not just on the policy and the ideology, he wants a more functional body that reflects the Senate of 30, 40 years ago in terms of trying to get things done. You and I know that's a lot harder in a more polarized era, but that's where he's trying to nudge them. And he's got a lot of power given the even-steven divide over there.

He is the clear, clear vote on a lot of final issues. So could steer things quite a bit.

[08:25:01]

Yeah, and he may want the Senate to function. But big questions about whether that is reciprocated on the other side of the aisle as well. Jonathan Martin, Amy Walker, thanks for being here this morning.

And coming up next, as vaccinations speed up, COVID-19 infections are surging in the state of Michigan. What's the state doing about it? We'll ask the lieutenant governor coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIP: The U.S. smashed a record for vaccinations reported in one day, 4.6 million just yesterday.

[08:30:07]

And 27 percent of Americans are now fully vaccinated, including three out of five seniors, who are the most vulnerable.

On the other hand -- on the one hand, that is very good news. On the other hand, the vast majority of people in this country are still very much at risk. And there are more new cases now than there were at the height of the summer surge last July.

Michigan has been especially hard hit in this fourth wave. New cases are on the cusp of eclipsing the state's peak in December during its winter surge and nearly 7,000 new cases were reported yesterday.

Take a look at this chart comparing the per capita rate in Michigan versus the entire country. It is four times higher in that state.

Joining us now from Detroit, Michigan, is Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist.

Lieutenant Governor, thank you for joining us this morning.

I want to pull up one more chart and this is a chart of the hospitalizations which are also back near peak levels that we saw in December. So it's not just that there are more cases, it's also that people are getting very, very sick. Some of the biggest hospitals are now delaying nonessential surgeries again.

How did we get to this point where the virus is so out of control, and is it getting worse? LT. GOV. GARLIN GILCHRIST (D), MICHIGAN: Well, Abby, what we're seeing

in Michigan is that, you know, we did a good job as you talked about. We did a strong job of having smart public policies in place for the last year to try to keep the spread of the virus down. We also have the super contagious B.1.1.7 variant that is present in the state of Michigan and spreading amongst our younger population.

We've done a really good job of trying to move vaccines in our state, and vaccinated more than 5 million people -- administered more than 5 million doses. More than a quarter of our population is fully vaccinated.

But there still are a lot of younger people who are getting this virus and we need to make sure that we can respond to them by getting them vaccinated as well. We're seeing small social gatherings that have contributed to the spread in Michigan, and I think are going to be contributing to the spread across the country.

And that's why we must respond to this hot spot directly in the entire state of Michigan with an increase in vaccine dose from the federal government.

We can vaccinate our way of this pandemic. Michigan has been efficient in doing so, and that's core to our strategy going forward.

PHILLIP: I do want to get to the vaccination issue in a second. But this is a tweet from the top surgeon out of Michigan -- at Michigan Medicine, the health system that is based out of the University of Michigan.

And he says the entire state is high risk. Bars and restaurants are open. People are out and about, no new restrictions. We need some help.

You know, Governor Whitmer asked on Friday people to stop eating indoors at restaurants and recommended that high schools temporarily go back to virtual learning. But why aren't those things being mandated? Why is the state not ordering those steps instead of just recommending it?

GILCHRIST: Well, look, April 2021 is different than where we were a year ago in April 2020. We had a lot of different tools at our disposal to be able to implement those policies, you know, to the best extent of our ability to be able to keep the spread down. Those were fought politically tooth and nail in here by the Republican Party in the state of Michigan. They continue to, the fact (ph), undermine that and took us to court and take away those powers.

Nevertheless, though, we have smart policies in place. We still have limitations on indoor dining. We still have limitations on social gathering. We still have masks required to be worn by all Michiganders.

And we're, you know, asking people to step up and to do their part and comply with those smart policies. And that will help us be able to slow the spread and that will help us when we get more vaccines in the state. That is a really critical piece of this, making sure that we can get more vaccines applied because we have the capacity to administer even more vaccines.

PHILLIP: But on the issue of restrictions, I mean, this surge followed a loosening of the restrictions in the state. Is it about politics? Is there a concern that there will be so much political pushback or maybe noncompliance that that's why this -- you know, Governor Whitmer is not willing to put -- to roll back some of the reopening that started this fourth surge?

GILCHRIST: National experts like, you know, Dr. Scott Gottlieb and Dr. Ashish Jha and other doctors in the state of Michigan as well have noted that compliance in mobility is a challenge. That's why we're calling for people to continue doing the right thing.

The policies are in place. And it's really those experts have also said that this hasn't been driven by policy. This has been driven by making sure that people continue to follow the policies that we have in place. So, that's what we're asking people to continue to do.

PHILLIP: So, on the vaccine issue, Governor Whitmer and you are also begging President Biden and the Biden administration to send more doses to the state. So far, they have refused. They say that the fairest thing to do is to allocate doses based on the state's population.

The White House says they're sending extra resources for testing and help to use the doses that you already have at a faster pace. Is that good enough?

GILCHRIST: Well, very appreciative of the offers for more personnel, for more therapeutics, for more mobile units. After all, Michigan was the first state to deploy mobile testing and mobile vaccination units in the country. That makes a lot of sense to us. We have huge vaccination sites at Ford Field in Detroit. We're using the social vulnerability index. That's all important.

But what is even more important is the fact that vaccine doses and administering them is how we're going to get through this. And the state of Michigan is a hot spot. You know, they've asked us to make sure that we are spreading vaccine doses to the place that need the most in the state, we need a national hot spot strategy that does that for the entire country. And right now, Michigan is that hot spot.

That's why we're -- in every conversation we're having at every level of the federal government, we are asking for more help, for more vaccines, and we're going to continue to advocate that. We have those conversations every single day.

And what's happening in Michigan, as we know, we are not disconnected as a country. What's happening in Michigan can spread through the Midwest. It can spread to the rest of the country.

But if we increase rapidly vaccinations coming into the state of Michigan now, we can get them out quickly and we can slow this before it spreads to other parts of the country. PHILLIP: You know, a White House official told me this weekend that

they distribute all of the doses that they have as they get them, which suggests that it may not even be possible to give Michigan more doses without taking them away from another state.

I mean, do you buy that and do you think that the government should be willing to pull doses from, you know, maybe Alabama and give them to Michigan instead?

GILCHRIST: We certainly are not wanting to go back to what we saw last year where the previous administration pitted state against state for resources like personal protective equipment or ventilators. What we are asking is to continue to build on the principle of equity that's been presence in this administration's federal response. Equity means responding differently where there's the most need.

And right now, the most need is in the state of Michigan. That is very clear. Every expert, nationally and locally, agrees.

So what we're asking is that a hot spot strategy be deployed and when that happens, that will make sure that we can respond to the people in our country who need the vaccines the most and that will stop those hot spots from expanding and spreading to other places.

There -- the capacity we believe exists. We're in conversation about that every single day and we believe that that can happen and happen quickly.

PHILLIP: I want to shift to another important issue which is the issue of voting. The Republican legislature in your state has proposed dozens of new voting restrictions. We're putting up some of them on our screen for our viewers. They include photo ID, but also things like no prepaid postage on absentee ballots, et cetera.

Governor Whitmer says that she would veto it, but Republicans say they can still pass it anyway because of a quirk in the law that allows them to enact it by petition, signed by just 340,000 voters, which does not sound like a high hurdle at all.

Are you confident that you can block these new rules if they go through that alternative channel?

GILCHRIST: Well, Abby, let me be very clear, that what Republicans in Michigan are doing to try to limit access to the freedom to vote and people with these proposals is disgusting and dangerous for our democracy in Michigan and across the country. It's part of this coordinated national strategy.

Yes, Governor Gretchen Whitmer will veto any bills that make it more difficult for anyone in Michigan to fully access the ballot or bills that are against the principles that the people of Michigan voted for in 2018 to expand access to voting, to enable absentee voting and to make it easier to register to vote online.

But the proposals in place now, the fact that Republicans are instead seeking a strategy that will work around the duly elected governor of the state of Michigan, they want to use a minority strategy to be able to make policy into law, I think it's -- I think it's trying to find a loophole because they know a simple fact. When we had increased voter turnout, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won Michigan in 2020. When we had increased turnout, Gretchen Whitmer and I won Michigan in 2018.

This is a strategy to reduce voter turnout in Michigan because Republicans in Michigan know they cannot win when voter turnout is high. They're running away from voters with these policies and the fact they want to undermine the governor's authority and try to find legal loopholes to implement it further demonstrates that they are doing things that are against the democratic values of our state.

PHILLIP: But can you -- can you actually do anything about a ballot initiative?

GILCHRIST: Yes. So, first of all, the bills do go through the legislature and they do get -- they do come to our desk, they will get vetoed. We will also challenge the signature-gathering process to make sure it is above board and it is done legally, which has not always been the case with the Michigan Republican Party and things they try to press.

And we will again use every tool at our disposal when it comes to grassroots pressure to make sure that we are blocking these bills and that may include an alternative signature gathering process to protect our rights.

PHILLIP: All right. Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist, we'll be watching that issue and certainly what's happening with COVID-19 in your state. Thanks for joining us this morning.

GILCHRIST: Thank you for having me, Abby.

PHILLIP: And coming up next, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz vows to fight back amid a widening federal sex trafficking investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIP: Republican Congress Matt Gaetz is refusing to back down as federal prosecutors scrutinize him in a broader sex trafficking investigation that's centered on a close associate.

A barrage of this week's headlines show the three term Florida law maker embroiled in the type of scandal that would end most politician's careers. Gaetz has denied any wrong doing and insists that he isn't going anywhere.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): They lie about me because I tell the truth about them and I'm not going to stop.

When you see the anonymous sources and insiders forecasting my demise, know this, they aren't really coming for me. They're coming for you. I'm just in the way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: And joining me now to share her latest reporting is CNN's senior legal correspondent, Paula Reid. Paula, welcome to CNN and welcome to "Inside Politics Sunday."

Look, this case is a complicated one but when we look at the question of why Matt Gaetz is being so defiant, is this a question of what he might have done that was illegal versus all the things that have been reported that he may have done that are either or distasteful or immoral? I mean what -- what's the line here between those two?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: That's a great question. We just have to separate what is a potential sex scandal or just what is a potential sex crime. And based on our reporting we know the Justice Department is investigating Congressman Gaetz for possible sex trafficking.

Among the allegations are in one instance that one girl may have been just 17 during an alleged encounter. There are questions about whether money or drugs may have --

[08:45:00]

-- been exchanged for sex.

And Abby, there's been new developments this week, suggesting that this investigation could even go beyond just these questions of sex trafficking.

The New York Times reporting that Gaetz discussed setting up a sham candidate in a state Senate race to help his friend win that seat. Now this investigation arose from an investigation into Gaetz's long-time friend and political ally, Joel Greenberg. He's the Seminole County tax collector -- former tax collector.

Abby, bad news for the congressman, this week Greenberg suggested that he would likely enter a plea deal. His attorneys were in court, said he's likely to resolve his own criminal case with a plea deal. And that's bad news for the congressman because Greenberg has an incentive now to share any evidence of any criminal wrong doing that he may have about the Congressman or about anyone else.

So it's gone from bad to worse this week for Congressman Gaetz.

PHILLIP: But that's right. And so far though, only one Republican law maker, Adam Kinzinger, has called for his resignation. And Matt Gaetz, on the other hand, is actually fundraising off of this scandal. What do you think is preventing more Republicans from speaking up about this? And will the pressure increase as all of these developments that you just laid out come -- come to bear this week?

REID: Such an important piece of context is that this investigation actually began in the final months of the Trump administration. Then Attorney General Bill Barr, he was aware of this. He didn't stop it.

So when you hear the Congressman there at his appearance on Friday suggest that he is being pursued by the deep state, he's suggesting that William Barr is part of the deep state.

He's clearly trying to use the Trump template but even the former president, Abby, doesn't seem terribly impressed. The only thing that former President Trump has said on behalf of the congressman is that yes, he didn't ask me for a pardon, he's denied the allegations.

That's a tepid response. That's pretty -- that's a pretty week defense. And if he doesn't get the former president's backing, it's unclear how long Republicans will continue to support him because most of their support appears to be based on the fact that they don't want to alienate (ph) that section of the party that really has tied its fortunes to the former president as they wait to see what he does.

So this week is going to be really telling as we see if more lawmakers come out and try to apply pressure for him to basically just step aside.

PHILLIP: Right. Now the strategy from Gaetz seems to be just tweet through it, fundraise through it. But reality may set in soon. Paula Reid, thanks again for joining us. And coming up next, a middle school -- from middle schooler surviving the turbulent bussing of the 1970s, to the first black woman mayor of Boston. Kim Janey's story coming up next.

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PHILLIP: A national political trend, more black women running major American cities. From Keisha Lance Bottoms' election as the mayor of Atlanta in 2017 to Kim Janey's ascension to the top job in Boston this year; seven black women are now in charge of some of the biggest U.S. American cities.

And we went up to Boston this week as acting Mayor Janey announced that she was going to run for a full term to talk to her about how she got here. Her harrowing experiences with bussing in the 1970s and her goals for a new more inclusive Boston.

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PHILLIP (voice-over): At a restaurant in Nubian Square in Boston, Massachusetts --

KIM JANEY (D), BOSTON MAYOR: Got me even some of that fresh out the oven mac and cheese.

PHILLIP: Newly sworn in Mayor Kim Janey is another local.

JANEY: I'm a big fan. And I always have been.

UNKNOWN: I know. I know. I was interviewed and they asked me what was your favorite dish.

PHILLIP: But unlike the mayors of this city who have come before her for 200 years, Janey is a black woman. Though like so many Bostonians who have come before her, she knows there is something magical about Fenway Park.

(APPLAUSE)

As president of the Boston City Counsel, Janey became acting mayor in March after Marty Walsh was tapped by President Biden as labor secretary. And this week Janey announced that she'll be running to serve a full term.

JANEY: As a daughter of Roxbury and the South End, I understand the challenges so many of our residents are facing. I understand these challenges because I have lived them.

PHILLIP: Janey grew up in this Roxbury neighborhood, surrounded by family.

JANEY: The house was owned by my grandmother, my bonus grandmother, my stepmother's mother. And she lived her. Two of my aunts lived her.

PHILLIP: She was part of the second wave of students bussed to school as part of the cities controversial integration effort.

(on screen): What do you remember about that time and that experience?

JANEY: Yes. Well, that was a very difficult time. It was traumatic and painful experience for many of the children and families.

PHILLIP: Was it for you?

JANEY: It was. And it -- it -- you know it was scary. So I was only 11 and when I think back now, you know, I think about my own grandchildren and when they were 11 if they had to experience such as a scary time in their lives in terms of the -- the angry mobs of people who didn't want these school buses rowing in and would express themselves by throwing rocks or sticks or bottles or -- or racial slurs.

PHILLIP (voiceover): That era in Boston produced poignant images like these and deep scares for children like Janey.

JANEY: Prior to that I had been going to elementary schools in Roxbury, had good experiences with my teachers. I got good grades. I had a wonderful just experience in Elementary school and things shifted and changed dramatically in middle school. My grades fell. You know, less certain about who you are.

PHILLIP: Eventually she began in the nonprofit world, focused on education advocacy, an issue now at the heart of her plans to leave the city, still grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic.

(on screen): And by fall you think every -- all kids should be back in some capacity?

JANEY: Yes. I mean really this April all --

PHILLIP: Yes, really this April. Yes. JANEY: -- all children will have the opportunity to come back. And certainly by fall, you know, we think -- we hope that we will be in a much better position in terms of COVID. But we have much more work to do in terms of posing those opportunity and achievement gaps that existed before COVID.

PHILLIP (voice-over): From achievement gaps to wealth gaps, Boston's racial divide is centuries old and deep. A recent study found the median net worth of white families in Boston was more than $247,000.

[08:55:00]

For black families, just $8.

JANEY: You know that is deeply related to discriminatory policies around housing and -- and so many other areas that denied black families the opportunity to build generational wealth. And we were not able to hold on to that house when the South End gentrified in Boston.

And there were so many other families who were denied the opportunity to buy a House in the first place.

PHILLIP: Boston is now a melting pot. A majority minority city. All of the major candidates running for the mayorship this year are people of color.

JANEY: I think there is certainly a call for -- for racial equity and making sure that we are leading with that lens.

PHILLIP: Janey is also part of another trend. Boston is one of seven major American cities that are all now led by black women.

JANEY: I say it all the time that while I bring my black girl magic to this job that I know to -- to change policies that were centuries in the making will take hard work and it will take all of us coming together to overcome these challenges.

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PHILLIP: And that's it for INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. Join us back here every Sunday, 8 am Eastern Time and the weekday show as well at noon Eastern Time. But coming up next, "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.

Jake's guests this morning include Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.

Thank you again for sharing your Sunday morning with us. Have a great rest of your day.

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