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Ceasefire Underway in Israel; Trump DOJ Secretly Obtained CNN Reporter's Phone, Email Records; U.S. Virus Cases, Hospitalizations Drop to Lowest Levels in a Year; Video of Black Man's Arrest Contradicts Police Account. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired May 21, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman alongside Brianna Keilar on this NEW DAY. The world watches as a fragile ceasefire begins between Hamas and Israel. What was President Biden's role in the standoff?

[06:00:02]

Plus, the actual deep state. The Trump Justice Department seizing a CNN reporter's phone and email records, a blatant attack on the First Amendment.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: He is the Trump Organization's money man, and now his former daughter-in-law, who is cooperating with investigators, says there was nothing legal happening inside the company for the past 20 years.

And an extraordinary rebuke. Prince William blaming the BBC for the deterioration for his mother's mental health and her eventual death after a damning discovery.

BERMAN: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Friday, May 21. This morning, a fragile truce appears to be holding in the Middle East. Israel and Hamas agree to a ceasefire brokered by Egypt after 11 days of deadly air strikes and rocket attacks.

Overnight Palestinians celebrated the ceasefire agreement in Gaza. President Biden pledged to help make the peace stick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe the Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely and enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity, and democracy. My administration will continue our quiet, relentless diplomacy toward that end. I believe we have a genuine opportunity to make progress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to the Middle East here in the coming days to meet with Israeli and Palestinian officials. In the end, destruction and death on both sides. Two hundred thirty-

two Palestinians killed, including at least 65 children. Twelve died in Israel, including two children.

While the violence has subsided, the fundamental underlying issues that fueled this conflict remain.

BERMAN: All right. CNN's Hadas Gold live in Jerusalem this morning for us.

Hadas, a fragile peace appears to be sticking this morning. Give us the latest.

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, it's been quiet since 2 a.m., although even up until the last final minutes until 2 a.m., the rockets were still being launched. Sirens were still being heard, as well. And there were reports of Israeli airstrikes.

But then after 2 a.m. strike, things have been quiet since then. And as you noted, there were celebrations by Palestinians, both in Gaza and elsewhere in Eastern Jerusalem, as in the West Bank.

Reactions from Israelis have been a little bit more muted.

Now the attention turns to what comes next. In Gaza, it needs to be rebuilt. The U.S. will likely want to help lead the effort that will be coordinated by international organizations and will cost billions of dollars.

And there will be concerns by international donors to make sure that the money that will be brought into Gaza will go towards those humanitarian needs and not towards militants trying to, perhaps, rebuild the tunnel system that Israel said it targeted or any of its rocket-launching capabilities.

And of course, the underlying issues that helped ignite this entire conflict still remain. Although we have this ceasefire, the ceasefire has not solved any of these issues.

There are still political divides within Palestinians, between the Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and elsewhere. Well, they have elections that have been long delayed.

And, of course, the tensions that helped ignite this conflict here in Jerusalem, in East Jerusalem at the Al Aqsa compound, the potential evictions in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, those are all still potentially on the table as well as the increasing communal violence between Arabs and Jews in mixed cities in Israel, as well as the issues in the West Bank.

We know that Secretary of State Blinken plans to visit the region in the coming days. But there will be the question of what, if anything, has this long and deadly conflict changed? And will anything actually -- fundamental change that will help bring long-lasting peace to the people in this region -- John.

BERMAN: Yes, look, the ceasefire is just the beginning. The hard work is ahead, if -- if people even want to try to do that work.

Hadas Gold, thank you so much for being there for us. Terrific reporting, thank you.

KEILAR: Joining us now, CNN White House correspondent John Harwood.

And you know, John, Biden reportedly took a tougher stance here with Benjamin Netanyahu. The relationship, of course, is not without some challenges. Did this stance that he took help things? Did it help matters move things along here?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Possibly. Look, there's a limited amount to celebrate here. There was a lot of carnage. The underlying causes, as Hadas indicated, of the conflict have not been dealt with. It is not entirely clear that Biden made a critical difference here. There were diminishing returns for both Israel and Hamas in continuing the conflict.

Nevertheless, he was extensively engaged. He changed his tone as it went on. And then the carnage stopped. So that gives the president the opportunity to boast that he helped to make peace, and more importantly, it gives him the opportunity to get onto domestic and foreign policy priorities that he wants to focus on, and this conflict is not that -- one of those.

[06:05:09]

KEILAR: What can the U.S. do in the long term is obviously the very complicated question here.

I want to talk with you about a report from one of our colleagues, because we're learning how frequently the Trump administration targeted journalists over leaks. We've actually learned of a new one, and it involves our very own colleague here at CNN.

CNN's Jessica Schneider has the details.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, John, we're learning that the Trump administration secretly sought and secretly obtained phone and email records of our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

Starr was notified by letter a week ago that the DOJ under former attorney general, Bill Barr, obtained her records that covered a two- month time period, June and July of 2017. And we know that DOJ got ahold of the records last year.

Now, those records included calls made to and from Barbara Starr's home, cell, and office phones. And the government also sought what they call non-content information from her emails. That means details about who got emails and the time and date sent but not the actual content itself.

Now, the letter didn't say why Barbara Starr's communications were sought, but over the time frame that was listed in the letter, she did report on U.S. military options for North Korea being prepared for President Trump, as well as stories on Syria and Afghanistan. Now, this revelation is significant, because this is the second time

in just a few weeks that reporters' records were obtained secretly and unbeknownst to them. The second time they've been notified that the Trump Justice Department got a hold of their records.

The last revelation was that three "Washington Post" reporters had their records revealed to DOJ.

Now I've reached out to former attorney general, Bill Barr, for comment. I have not heard back.

But the president of our network, Jeff Zucker, issued a statement, saying, "CNN strongly condemns the secret collection of any aspect of a journalist's correspondence, which is clearly protected by the First Amendment. We are asking for an immediate meeting with the Justice Department for an explanation."

The current Justice Department is responding to this, making clear that these records were obtained under the Trump administration last year and saying that Attorney General Merrick Garland is committed to press freedom and will meet with reporters to hear their concerns about these recent revelations -- John and Brianna.

KEILAR: Jessica, thank you for that. John, this is the third revelation like this in a week. This did happen under the Obama [SIC] administration. It was alarming then. It's alarming now, especially when you consider the totality of the Trump administration's actions when it comes to the press.

HARWOOD: No question about it. And look, if there's a genuine good national security reason why they did this to obtain Barbara Starr's records, we have not heard it yet.

And the fact that it happened three years after the fact, in 2020, for 2017 records, suggests they were not exactly in hot pursuit of a live national security problem.

If the real reason is that they were embarrassed that the president and his team didn't know what they were doing on important policy areas and a reporter with good sources was making that clear, that's an outrage.

KEILAR: I want to ask you about House Republicans and this commission, because they're being asked about their votes against it, a lot of Republicans are, and this is what Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart in Florida said to our Manu Raju.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARIO DIAZ-BALART (R-FL): This is multiple -- multiple studies taking place. You have the Senate, multiple, multiple, multiple things being done.

MANU RAJU, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is supposed to be the authoritative outside commission. This is buildup. This is buildup.

DIAZ-BALART: Like I say, this is supposed to be.

RAJU: you recommended filing 9/11 -- the 9/11 Commission. What's wrong with that?

DIAZ-BALART: Yes, yes, look, what you're saying is the Department of Justice isn't authoritative. Or you're saying the U.S. Senate isn't authoritative. But the reality is, if you're going to tell me that the Senate is illegitimate and those studies are illegitimate; if you're going to tell me that the Department of Justice is illegitimate, than let's have a conversation.

RAJU: John Katko is the one --

DIAZ-BALART: No, no, no. I'm talking about you. Until you can tell me that all of those other -- that process is taking place is legitimate. And then I think that we need to have another layer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: You see how he pivots away from John Katko, who is the Republican who negotiated a very fair arrangement for finding this commission.

HARWOOD: Incredibly weak. But look, remember how Mitch McConnell said there's no doubt, none, that President Trump inspired and encouraged this insurrection?

There's no good reason, none, for a member of Congress to oppose a bipartisan commission to investigate an attack on the Congress, attack on American democracy.

If it makes your party look bad, because your party is implicated in what happened, that's too bad. And if you can't put country over party, as John McCain liked to say in a situation like this, what that means is there are a lot of people walking around the Congress who like to project the image of patriotic Boy Scouts who are defining themselves as anti-American by imposing this inquiry.

[06:10:07]

KEILAR: Dozens of Republicans who did, yes, vote for this, but most of them did not.

HARWOOD: That's right.

KEILAR: John Harwood, happy Friday to you. Thanks for coming in.

HARWOOD: Same to you.

KEILAR: From concerts to travel, new evidence that America is reopening. That is in full force.

BERMAN: The accounts don't match the video. Why the disturbing case out of Louisiana may not be rare.

And a new warning about that "sham audit," air quotes, in Arizona being run by Republicans. What the secretary of state is warning about the voting machines that they've been touching. This is NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This morning, significant milestones in the fight against coronavirus. The seven-day average of new cases has dropped below 30,000 for first time since last June. Look at that. That is wonderful.

But 30,000 people are hospitalized. That is the lowest number since last summer. Look at that. That is wonderful.

For the first time in 14 months there are no coronavirus patients at San Francisco General Hospital. It's one of the biggest in the Bay Area. These positive developments prompting reopenings across the country. CNN has reporters covering it all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: I'm Coy Wire in Atlanta.

More and more fans are experiencing the thrill of live sports as teams relax protocols in arenas and stadiums. Just over 6,000 spectators witnessed LeBron James seal the Lakers' play-off spot with this game- winning three-point shot over the Warriors' Steph Curry at Staples Center Wednesday night.

The amount of fans allowed at this weekend's NBA playoff games will vary, but every team will have spectators in seats. The biggest crowd in America since March 2020 is expected on Memorial Day weekend at the Indy 500.

It estimated 135,000 fans will be on hand to see what is known as the greatest spectacle in racing, though that's just 40 percent capacity at the huge Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Alexandra Field in New York City, where an industry badly battered by the pandemic is getting back on its feet.

Restaurants have returned to full capacity. Bar seating made its comeback earlier this month. The curfew has already been lifted on outdoor dining, and there are plans to lift the curfew for indoor dining by the end of the month.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: I'm Richard Quest in New York.

As more and more Americans get vaccinated, they're rushing to travel again. The Transportation Security Administration screened a record 1.8 million people at airports on Sunday. It's the most since the pandemic began.

Meanwhile, the AAA predicts more than 37 million travelers will hit the road for Memorial Day holiday weekend, 60 percent more than last year.

And the CEO of AirBNB is expecting a return to travel like nothing we've seen before, calling it the travel rebound of the century.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Joining me now, public health physician Dr. Chris Pernell.

Doctor, so nice to see you this morning and so nice to see the data.

DR. CHRIS T. PERNELL, PUBLIC HEALTH PHYSICIAN: Yes, it is.

BERMAN: Fewer than 30,000 cases for the first time since last June, hospitalizations down. We can do this. I mean, what does this tell you?

PERNELL: We can. Public health measures work. When you follow the data, when you follow the science, and when you do those things that we know will keep people safe: getting vaccinated, practicing appropriate social distancing when you're not vaccinated, avoiding crowded places when you're not vaccinated, masking when you're not vaccinated. If you notice a trend here, I'm telling people how to get safe and stay safe. And when we do that as a nation, we get better. The numbers fall.

BERMAN: And again, it's different than you're seeing other places in the world. Argentina is having to go into lockdown now. We're not. We're doing the opposite because of the measures we're taking.

As a public health expert, any trepidation? We just heard the Indy 500 expecting 135,000 people in the stands on Memorial Day? Any trepidation there?

PERNELL: That does concern me. John, I still haven't gone inside a restaurant. OK? I'm a public health physician.

BERMAN: Vaccinated.

PERNELL: I'm vaccinated. I could go inside of a restaurant, but I still don't have a comfort level that we have the appropriate amount of the population vaccinated.

I live in a community where we're just about 40 percent of adults having at least one dose of the vaccine. So it's going to be important that we have that widespread -- that widespread uptake of the vaccine. Then we can return to more, you know, of what we like to do.

BERMAN: So the daily vaccination rate, if you compare it to at its hype, is down, but there are some positive signs even within that. And, you know, kids are starting to get vaccinated. The military --

PERNELL: Yes.

BERMAN: -- a 55 percent increase in vaccinations in just one month. What does that tell you?

PERNELL: Because they brought in eligibility. And this is a lesson that I want us to learn. When you lead with equity, you get better responses.

What does that mean? When we don't have such narrow eligibility criteria, we can meet demand immediately when it's there. But when we have this more methodical or even a slower walk to get people vaccinated, I think it may actually discourage some folks from going ahead with that decision journey.

BERMAN: All right. This is, I think, one of the most interesting stories of the day. The government is partnering with some dating apps.

PERNELL: Right.

BERMAN: Let me read some of these to you. I'm not that familiar with them, to be honest. But Tinder, Hinge, OKCupid, BLK, Chispa, Plenty of Fish, Bumble, and Badoo.

And what happens is -- is you can sort by vaccination status. You can -- you know, if you only want to date vaccinated people, you can do that now on these apps. Plus, you can sign up to get vaccinated on the apps, as well. Does this strike you as a good idea?

PERNELL: Look, we need do whatever we can to give people a safe incentive to get vaccinated. And I think it's important do that. We need to exercise that social or cultural fluency, knowing what people like to do. If you know what people like to do, tie vaccination to those things. Bring the vaccine to people.

[06:20:09]

So this is just another example of real-world problem-solving. Get a shot, get a date.

BERMAN: And just to be clear, if I was looking at those apps, it was only to figure out how they were working for the vaccinations, not anything else.

Dr. Chris Pernell, thanks so much for with us.

PERNELL: Thank you.

BERMAN: New details this morning about Ronald Greene's death at the hands of police two years ago. His mother says her son was murdered. She will join us in the next hour.

Plus, how often do police reports misrepresent what actually happened? The statistics here, they're going to shock you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: This morning we are learning new details about the death of Ronald Greene, a black man who died a little more than two years ago in the custody of Louisiana State Police following a high-speed chase.

[06:25:07] A state official with knowledge of the investigation tells CNN that the Louisiana State Police started investigating this incident as a criminal matter the night the incident took place, but family members say police told them Greene had died in a car crash, and a preliminary incident report makes no mention of the disturbing actions by police officers seen in a recently leaked body cam video of the incident.

This video, obtained by the Associated Press, shows police tasing, punching, and dragging Greene before he is left face down and moaning on the ground for more than nine minutes.

I want to discuss this now with Phil Stinson. He is a criminologist and criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University, who maintains a vast database tracking incidents of police misconduct around the country.

And Phil, you're also a former police officer. Thanks for being with us this morning.

PHIL STINSON, CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROFESSOR, BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY: It's good to be with you, Brianna.

KEILAR: So just tell us how often does this happen, where police reports misrepresent what actually happened?

STINSON: Well, it actually happens with 00 with some regularity. When I was a young police officer many years ago, it was jokingly referred to by colleagues as creative report writing.

Lying is a normal part of policing. And when I look at the data in my own research. So I study police crime. That's crime committed by non- federal sworn law enforcement officers around the country. We see that about almost 7 percent of the cases where an officer is arrested, they're actually charged with a crime for making false reports.

So for an 11-year period, we actually have almost 800 cases where officers were specifically charged with a crime for lying in a report. So it's a fairly common occurrence. We actually see it when we drill down the data that officers are actually caught in lies far more often than that when they're arrested for other types of crimes.

So unfortunately, it's something we see with regularity. This video, this set of videos that we've seen so far involving the case where Mr. Green was killed at the hands of Louisiana state troopers, is very troubling. But unfortunately, nothing surprises me in what I've seen so far.

KEILAR: In this case, the E.R. doctor who received Greene with injuries that were not consistent with a car accident -- you know, he had been tased, he had been beaten. And the doctor noted, quote, "Does not add up."

How common is it that a medical professional is the one contradicting the police account?

STINSON: It happens all the time. And the literature in terms of emergency medicine talks about this. This is a -- is a common thing.

What's interesting here is that the lies were told immediately following the incident. The troopers involved knew that they had engaged in excessive force. They knew they had killed Mr. Greene. They immediately started telling lies. The coverup started immediately, and that's very troubling.

Another thing to point out here is that we've seen this in my research with high-speed chases, where at the end of a chase, officers use excessive force with regularity. They engage in acts of street justice. They gratuitously injure somebody. They want to make it clear to somebody that you might want to think twice before you give us a hard time, lead us on a chase again.

And then the other thing about that is I think that officers quite often at the end of these chases are amped up, and they simply need to calm down and assess the situation, be aware of their surroundings, and effectuate an arrest. But we see it over and over again where they overreact, where they engage in excessive force, where they lie about the incident, and sometimes where they actually kill someone.

KEILAR: In this case a news organization put out bits of this video. What happens when the video doesn't come to light?

STINSON: Well, it certainly leads to problems in terms of police legitimacy. People don't have faith in their local police departments and the state police agencies because we don't believe them.

There's problems with transparency. There's problems with accountability.

Here, I certainly would like to have the opportunity to watch the full 40-some minutes of video which the Associated Press reportedly has, but we haven't had that opportunity.

So far we have to take their word that this all happened at the end of a high-speed chase. We really don't know that.

KEILAR: Yes, that's right. As you point out, I think there's more than 45 minutes of video. We've only seen little snippets of it. So we certainly would like to see that.

Philip Stinson, thanks for being with us.

STINSON: Good be with you.

KEILAR: Coming up, a stark new warning from Arizona's secretary of state on the bogus election audit there. Why Maricopa County could soon be forking over millions for new voting machines.

BERMAN: Plus, just how stressful are presidential elections? Turns out politics can be life-threatening. The results of this really surprising new study, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)