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New Day

At Least 17 Mass Shootings Across the U.S. in Past Week; Capitol Police on Congress: 'They Think We're Like Servants'; Witness Told to Prepare for Trump Grand Jury; Judge: Trump's 'Steady Drumbeat' of Big Lie May Inspire More Attacks; Biden's COVID Origin Probe Came Amid Public Pressure. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired May 27, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar, alongside John Berman on this NEW DAY.

[06:00:01]

A numb nation grappling with the 17th mass shooting this week alone and more than 230 this year. And it's only May. Now the president is saying enough.

Plus, will a mother's plea convince Republicans to vote for a January 6 Commission? The mother of a fallen Capitol officer is hoping that she can make the difference.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New CNN reporting this morning on how livid Capitol Police officers are with Republicans who are accused of treating officers like, quote, "servants."

And we're learning what pushed President Biden over the edge when it comes to being aggressive on finding out how the coronavirus pandemic began.

KEILAR: A very good morning to viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Thursday, May 27. And some Americans who are surviving the pandemic are dying from America's other epidemic. Another day, another hour, another mass shooting.

This morning the friends and loved ones of nine more Americans are shattered by unimaginable grief. The latest carnage in San Jose, California, where a gunman went on a shooting rampage at a light rail yard in what appears to be a case of workplace violence. Just one more crimson-colored stain on a landscape of gun violence that is sweeping the country.

This is the 232nd mass shooting of 2021. It is the 17th in the past week, according to an analysis from the Gun Violence Archive. Seventeen in the past week.

BERMAN: Seventeen. Since last Wednesday, at least two dozen people have been shot to death, with many more injured. It is a list that keeps expanding. Mass shootings occurring in San Jose, California; Inkster, Michigan; West Jefferson, Ohio; two in Chicago; Park Forest, Illinois; Youngstown, Ohio; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Norfolk, Virginia; Patterson, New Jersey; Columbus, Ohio; Charleston, South Carolina; San Angelo, Texas; Fairfield Township, New Jersey; Minneapolis; Jersey City; and Bay Shore, New York.

BERMAN: Finding a place for your family to be safe is becoming harder than ever. In America's recent history, shootings have taken place in a church, in an elementary school, a high school, a restaurant, at a military base or navy yard, at the post office, in a movie theater, at a grocery store, at a concert, at college, at a nightclub or bar, at Walmart, a FedEx facility, a McDonald's, in a hospital, at a community center, city center, and municipal center, in a news room, in your homes, your workplaces, at massage parlors, at a gas station, in the street, at a festival, in a hotel, at the airport, at a party venue, a sports complex, a park, and most recently at a public transportation rail yard in San Jose, California.

And that is where we find CNN's Josh Campbell.

Josh, it is unfortunate. This is not a unique story that you are covering today, but it is a horrific one.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Another day, another mass murder in America. And as you listen to that long, heartbreaking, infuriating list of places where it's no longer safe in this country, you have to wonder whether mass murder is something that lawmakers are simply going to accept.

Two hundred thirty-two mass shootings this year. Seventeen mass shootings just in the past week. And we don't know how lawmakers are starting their day. But we do know this. Here in San Jose, nine more families in this country are starting their day grieving the loss of a loved one killed by gunfire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMPBELL (voice-over): This morning, law enforcement is investigating why a gunman opened fire at a commuter rail yard in San Jose, California, killing nine people.

SHERIFF LAURIE SMITH, SANTA CLARA COUNTY: We don't know anything about the motive right now. However, they were all employees of the transit district. They worked together. They were there together.

CAMPBELL: The shots started ringing out around 6:30 a.m.

DEPUTY RUSSELL DAVIS, SANTA CLARA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Once we received that information, deputies and surrounding officers immediately responded to the location and addressed the threat. They did not wait. They immediately went into the scene and rendered first aid and rescued victims out of the building as fast as they can.

CAMPBELL: The gunman, now identified by a law enforcement source as Sam Cassidy, was an employee and had multiple guns.

SMITH: I know for sure that when the suspect knew the law enforcement was there, he took his own life. CAMPBELL: Authorities also sweeping the area for possible explosives.

And while emergency crews arrived at the rail yard, nearly eight miles away, firefighters responding to a blaze at a home believed to be the shooter's.

[06:05:01]

SMITH: It's a very complex investigation. We now know that San Jose is working on the house fire, and we're still putting that together.

CAMPBELL: At least nine people lost their lives in the massacre. One of them was Michael Rudometkin. His friend, a San Jose councilman, writing, "There are no words to describe the heartache we are feeling right now, especially for his family." That heartache echoing throughout the city.

MAYOR SAM LICCARDO (D), SAN JOSE: It's a heartbreaking moment for all of us. And we've got a lot of families grieving and a lot of colleagues mourning the loss of their friends.

CAMPBELL: At the White House, President Biden urging Congress to take action on gun reform, saying, "Enough. Every life that is taken by a bullet pierces the soul of our nation. We can and we must do more."

Meanwhile in California, Governor Gavin Newsom expressing his frustration and raising this question to the nation as it copes with yet another mass shooting.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): There's a numbness I imagine some of us are feeling about this, because there's a sameness to this, you know. Anywhere, USA. Just feels like this happens over and over and over again. Rinse and repeat. And what the hell is going on in the United States of America? What the hell is wrong with us?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMPBELL: Now, at this early morning hour, state and local law enforcement, as well as special agents from the ATF and the FBI, are here behind me at the scene of the crime, going through this location. They're also at the shooter's house right now, trying to glean any piece of evidence that can help them land on a motive in just the latest mass shooting in the United States -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Josh Campbell, live for us from San Jose. Thank you.

The Senate is set to vote today on whether to establish a January 6 commission to investigate the attack on the Capitol. Democrats need ten Republican votes to pass this, but all signs are pointing to GOP senators blocking the bill.

Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died a day after the insurrection, is hoping to meet with Republican senators herself to push for the commission. According to CNN's reporting, only 15 have agreed to meet with her. Thirteen declined outright, and others are making their staff available, which to be clear, is the congressional equivalent of a brush-off. BERMAN: Gladys Sicknick wrote a letter to Republican senators, laying

out why she thinks a bipartisan commission is critical. It reads, quote, "My son, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, died on January 7, 2021. He died because of the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol building on January 6. He and his fellow officers fought for hours and hours against those animals, who were trying to take over the Capitol building and our democracy as we know it. While they were fighting, congressmen and senators were locking themselves inside their offices. According to some who were barricaded in their offices, they said it looked like tourists walking through the Capitol. Really?"

KEILAR: "Many officers were badly hurt. Not having a January 6 commission to look into exactly what occurred is a slap in the faces of all the officers who did their jobs that day. Because of what they did, the people in the building were able to go home that evening and be with their families. Brian and many other officers ended up in the hospital."

She goes on to say, "I suggest that all congressmen and senators who are against this bill visit my son's grave in Arlington National Cemetery and while there, think about what their hurtful decisions will do to those officers who will be there for them going forward.

"Putting politics aside, wouldn't they want to know the truth of what happened on January 6? If not, they do not deserve to have the jobs they were elected to do."

The views there expressed by Officer Sicknick's mother are shared, actually, by a number of police officers in the Capitol force. We have some new reporting this morning on what is really their fractured relationship, as you can imagine, with members of Congress. Their anger at Republican efforts to whitewash what happened very clearly on that day of the insurrection.

CNN's Whitney Wild is joining us with this story.

What are these officers saying, Whitney?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're very frustrated, because there was this moment following the insurrection where they thought, OK, our shortcomings, our challenges have been exposed, and now there's a real chance for reform, for meaningful changes.

And in the days and weeks that followed, it seemed like that was farther and farther and farther from their grasp. And now it seems like, you know, possibly this fact-finding mission is just going to go nowhere. It's totally doomed. So there's a lot of frustration.

For example, one officer telling CNN, "We have heard all of this support for police, police, police and then your own police force is battered and bruised, and now you drag your feet?"

This same officer said, "I kind of got lulled. I got fooled. I listened to Senate Minority Leader -- excuse me, Senate Majority -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's words that same night when they reconvened. I bought into it. I thought, 'Wow, we are really going to get some answers.'"

And of all of the conversations that I have, Brianna, reporting this story, I think this was the comment that broke my heart the most. For these officers to feel like they were tricked after they were victimized is just heartbreaking. And that really, I think, captures the sentiment of some of these officers we spoke with, who were frustrated. And they're hurt by what they're seeing play out.

KEILAR: I think it's natural -- look, they're the victims of a crime -- of crimes. And it's natural to want to know what happened and for there to be an investigation, which is very much what the commission is. And also to make sure that that's not going to happen again.

WILD: Right, exactly.

KEILAR: They're living these jobs day in and day out. What are they saying about the January 6 commission efforts?

WILD: Well, they're frustrated that this is going basically nowhere. I mean, they are -- they -- One officer I spoke with was incensed. I mean, he's -- they're very angry that this isn't going anywhere, because again, you know, this -- they feel like they were the victims of this crime. They thought everybody was on the same page in trying to find answers. And as the days and weeks have progressed, they realized that that's not going to happen.

And they are just in the same place they were at the end of December, and it's very frustrating.

KEILAR: So you know, I don't know for people who haven't been in the Capitol, to understand the way the police are there. You walk in the door. You go through magnetometers. I mean, they are there.

WILD: Right.

KEILAR: You interact with them constantly. It's not like they're off to the side and you see them occasionally. You see them all the time.

WILD: Right.

KEILAR: So I wonder what is it like for these officers who have lawmakers coming and going? I mean, they have relationships, pre- existing relationships. What is it like for them?

WILD: Well, it's tough. I mean, one of the officers, you know, we spoke with said that what ends up happening is they just sort of like blend in with the rest of the building. That they start to be treated like they're just part of the apparatus and not human beings. And that's the most difficult thing to -- you know, they're human beings.

KEILAR: Like they're human kind of fences or something?

WILD: Right. And they're just -- they just -- you know, some -- and I want to say, this is not all members, and there are overtures. You know, for example, there are members on both sides of the aisle who bring doughnuts to -- to the officers, who said thank you, who have gone to roll call, who have made these overtures to express their gratitude. And some are very friendly. They, you know, interact when they go through the door. They chat. They want to learn about these officers.

But there are other members who just walk by, who treat them like they're just part of the apparatus of the entire Capitol, and that's what's hurtful. I mean, they're human beings.

And some of the officers also expressed staff is -- can also be very dismissive. One officer told CNN that they felt like they were treated like Paul Blart, mall cop. That there's minimal respect for their authority, and they thought that following January 6, that would change, because they had proved, through blood, sweat, and many tears, that they are dedicated to security and dedicated to preserving their lives. Nobody was hurt. Not one member was hurt. Not one staff member was hurt. And so they thought that there would be a new respect for what they're doing in their professional career, and some members just don't seem to be able to connect those two ideas.

KEILAR: They feel so devalued, and they did pretty amazing work that day. As you said, they're the ones who suffered these casualties.

Whitney, great reporting. It's so important to hear what the police on the Hill think. And we really appreciate you bringing it to us. Thanks.

A new turn in the investigation into Donald Trump. A witness is being told to prepare for grand jury testimony.

BERMAN: Plus, a federal judge with a stark warning that Trump's big lie drumbeat will cause more people to take up arms.

And CNN reports on why President Biden decided to get aggressive and order an investigation into the mysterious origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:32]

BERMAN: Developing this morning, a new signal that the investigation into the Trump Organization is moving into a new phase. A source tells CNN the Manhattan prosecutors pursuing a criminal case against former President Trump and his company have told at least one witness to prepare for grand jury testimony.

Joining us now, CNN legal and national security analyst Asha Rangappa. She's a former FBI special agent. Asha, how significant is this?

ASHA RANGAPPA, CNN LEGAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It's very significant, John. This signals that the prosecutor's office is moving from the gathering evidence phase to the presenting evidence phase.

If you'll remember about six months ago, Cy Vance's office, the Manhattan D.A.'s office, hired a forensic accounting firm to start going through the financial records of the Trump Organization, and so that might be -- you know, that firm might have the witnesses that will be presenting testimony, or it could be other witnesses.

And this is a special grand jury, which is impaneled for a longer period, because this is a complex financial investigation and would take a lot of time to present this. But ultimately, you know, the idea would be to have probable cause to charge someone with a crime.

BERMAN: I was going to ask you, you know, what type of witnesses might be called in this type of investigation? Who would you call?

RANGAPPA: I would call the, you know, forensic accountants. In New York grand juries, you cannot have hearsay testimony, as you can in federal grand juries. So you know, you can't have a primary investigator come in and summarize all the evidence that's been gathered in the case. You need the people who have the firsthand knowledge.

And in a case where there's, you know, a lot of financial records, you want people who can go through and, you know, present that evidence.

And then also, you know, if there are witnesses that have knowledge of, you know, the people that were involved and can testify to that in terms of who knew about the kind of representations, for example, that were being made to banks or on tax returns, those are people who might testify, as well.

BERMAN: I want to ask you about something that Judge Amy Berman Jackson, a federal judge, said. She's involved in many of the cases of the alleged insurrectionists.

And she said overnight, quote, "The steady drumbeat that inspired the defendant to take up arms has not faded away. Six months later, the canard that the election was stolen is being repeated daily on major news outlets and from the corridors of power in state and in federal government, not to mention in the nearly daily fulminations of the former president."

She's talking about Donald Trump and the big lie.

How unusual is that to hear from a federal judge? Why do you think she said that?

RANGAPPA: Well, you know, she's saying that in the context of, you know, keeping someone in detention pending trial, but I think what she's talking about at a larger level is basically what we're dealing with, with the big lie, is a terrorist ideology. She's not saying that explicitly, but that is what is underlying it.

It is -- it is very similar to terrorist ideology. It is offering a cause, a justification to fight for, one that is actually clothed in kind of some noble civic virtue. And it's promising a return, if -- if they are successful, to you know, the ascension of the rightful ruler, in this case Trump.

And so this does encourage people to -- to fight for that. And I think when you actually have elected officials, you know, prominent people in the media, echoing that lie, it is giving it credence. So I think, you know, it's unusual, but we are now in a very unusual

situation, where we have, basically, a domestic terror movement which, you know, is represented in Congress; and it's continuing be promoted.

BERMAN: Strange days indeed. Asha Rangappa, thank you very much for being with us this morning.

Coming up, new details about why President Biden ordered the intelligence community to redouble their investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

KEILAR: Plus, a lifetime of immunity? Promising new research, but only if you're vaccinated.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: We have new details this morning on why President Biden is asking the U.S. intelligence community to work harder in their investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and also that they need to report back within 90 days.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is live for us at the White House. OK, so tell us about this, Arlette. What's behind Biden's decision here?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, this is really one of the greatest unanswered questions of the last year and President Biden making it clear that he wants more to be done in order to get to the bottom of the origins of COVID-19.

Now, back in March, the president asked for an internal analysis into the origins, and in that statement released yesterday, he said, "The U.S. intelligence community has coalesced around two likely scenarios but has not reached a definitive conclusion on their questions."

So after that March report they believe that more could be done to investigate where COVID-19 originated.

Now, also at the same time, the U.S. has been pressuring China to engage more fulsomely with the international investigation into COVID- 19, but both publicly and privately, they've come to the realization that that just may not happen.

And so the president has tasked his intelligence community with this 90-day review, and in that assignment, he also says there are specific questions for china.

This also comes amid the backdrop of increased pressure from the public trying to get to the bottom and answer more questions about the origination of COVID-19. There were those reports in "The Wall Street Journal" and from CNN that really underscore the plausibility of that theory that this could have originated in a lab.

But what the president is also making clear here is that the United States will take a more involved approach with investigating COVID-19. Just a few days ago they were saying that they did not want to leap ahead of any of the international investigations, but the president making it very clear that he wants to get to the bottom of this and is tasking his intelligence community with doing that -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, now they are stepping in to kind of do their own thing, too. Arlette Saenz at the White House, thank you.

BERMAN: So what evidence could U.S. intelligence be looking at that might shed light on the pandemic's origin? CNN's Elizabeth Cohen joins us now.

What about that? What will they look for?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, there are so many things to look for in a medical investigation like this, it's almost hard to know where to start.

But they will probably start with these lab workers who apparently got sick when they were working with the virus that cause COVID-19. What symptoms did they have? Were -- they were told that they were compatible with COVID-19, but what exactly were the symptoms? What tests were done to see, was it the flu? Was it something else?

And also we were told that they were done -- that an antibody test was done and that the results were negative on these lab workers. OK, where's that test? Where are those results? Who did the test? Exactly what test was done, because there are a variety of antibody tests?

And John, this part is super important. Did they save blood samples from when these workers were sick, because if they did, then you could go back and test it for antibodies. That's just the beginning.

But they're involved -- this involves a certain level of trust. You have to have a certain level of trust that these answers were right or be able to do these tests on your own.

BERMAN: You have to have the trust the answers are right. You're depending on the Chinese, and they have been completely opaque from the very beginning on this.

Elizabeth, you also have some brand-new reporting this morning on how interest in vaccinations in the United States has increased. What's going on here?

COHEN: Yes, it's interesting. If you think back to May 13, John, that's the day that Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC, made the announcement that vaccinated people could take their masks off in most situations. So the question arose, will -- would that incentivize people to get vaccinated?