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Biden Administration Won't Help with Trump's Tax Returns; Osaka Withdraws from French Open; Jarrod Spencer is Interviewed about Mental Health; Concert Promoter Charging More for Unvaccinated Attendees; Flash Floods and Extreme Heat hit U.S. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 01, 2021 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:32:03]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Some House Democrats want the Biden administration to do more to expose alleged wrongdoing by former President Trump. Their chief concern is the White House won't help them obtain the documents that they want the most. That would be Trump's tax returns.

CNN's Jessica Dean is joining us now with brand new reporting.

So the Biden administration now has control over these documents. And they are saying, no, we're not going to play ball.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. So far they have not, Brianna, much to the consternation of some House Democrats and liberal activists as well who were hoping that as soon as the Biden administration got in this would move forward very quickly.

But, instead, the Biden administration, the DOJ, under Attorney General Merrick Garland, has really said, we want to return to normal. And, remember, that was really Biden's mandate for a Department of Justice, which was to not be politicized. And so they have really said in a lot of cases that they have been protecting executive privilege here and the executive branch instead of just handing these over.

Now, House Democrats, including the House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, is continuing to pursue this and we're told that they're still talking, both sides. But there's now this lingering kind of fear on some sides but also this lingering possibility that they may not get these tax documents or it may -- and they may not get exactly what they want, let's put it that way.

KEILAR: It's really interesting. It seems like it's the Biden administration saying this is going to play out in the courts.

DEAN: Right. And, remember, the Manhattan district attorney does have those Trump tax records. So it does exist. It is out there in the legal system. It's just not the House Democrats who have them.

And they have gotten some victories in all of their lawsuits that they've had, you know, where we're going to see Don McGahn testifying before House members here soon, later this week. So they've gotten some victories. But, yes, it appears to be that the DOJ is saying, let's let the courts play this out, let's let the legal system play this out and let's not politicize the justice system like it was during the Trump administration.

KEILAR: The trail of the Trump administration is long I think we'll see.

DEAN: Yes. Yes, it is.

KEILAR: Jessica Dean, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

DEAN: Yes.

KEILAR: Serena Williams responding overnight to Naomi Osaka's decision to withdraw from The French Open.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, a Texas man arrested and accused of planning another mass shooting. What investigators found when they searched his house.

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[06:38:22]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERENA WILLIAMS, 23-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPION: I feel for Naomi. I feel like I wish I could give her a hug because I know what it's like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: That was Serena Williams expressing support for Naomi Osaka after the four-time grand slam champion withdrew from The French Open citing her mental health.

Here's how it all played out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR (voice over): One of the world's top tennis stars is stepping away from the court to focus on her mental health.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Naomi Osaka lets her racket --

KEILAR: Naomi Osaka withdrawing from The French Open Monday after playing just one match. The four-time grand slam champion explaining her departure in a lengthy social media post on Monday, writing, I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer. More importantly, I would never trivialize mental health or use the term lightly.

Osaka talked about her mental health challenges after a match in 2018.

NAOMI OSAKA, FOUR-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPION: I just woke up and I was really depressed but I didn't know why.

KEILAR: And ahead of this year's French Open, Osaka announce she would not participate in any news conferences to protect her mental health and would accept any fines associated with her decision. The tournament fining her $15,000 after she passed on speaking to the media following her first-round win Sunday.

Osaka also discussing her discomfort with public speaking, writing in her post, anyone that knows me, knows I'm introverted and anyone that has seen me at the tournaments will notice that I'm often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety. I get really nervous and find it stressful to always try to engage and give the best answers I can.

[06:40:05]

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: These young athletes are scrutinized. They're scrutinized often from teenage years onward. There is a lot of pressure.

KEILAR: The 23-year-old revealing she's, quote, suffered long bouts of depression since the U.S. Open in 2018 and I have a really hard time coping with that. That win, Osaka's first grand slam victory, after a controversial match against one of her role models, Serena Williams. Williams sending this message after her match Monday.

SERENA WILLIAMS, 23-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPION: I feel for Naomi. I feel like I wish I could give her a hug because I know what it's like. You just have to let her handle it the way she wants to in the best way that she thinks she can.

KEILAR: Other top athletes offering Osaka their support, too. Venus Williams writing, so proud of you. Take care of yourself and see you back to winning soon.

And Steph Curry tweeting, you shouldn't ever have to make a decision like this. But so damn impressive taking the high road when the powers that be don't protect their own. Major respect.

Osaka says she hopes she can improve the experience for players off the clay, writing, when the time is right, I really want to work with the tour to discuss ways we can make things better for players, press and fans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right, joining me now is sports psychologist Jarrod Spencer. He's also the author of "Mind of the Athlete: Clearer Mind, Better Performance."

Great to see you here, Jarrod.

And I want to make clear, like, we can't diagnose Naomi Osaka from here. You can't, even with your experience. So I think we're going to look at the larger issue here, which is, people are like, hey, she plays in front of thousands of people for millions of dollars, yet has anxiety over answering questions from reporters. Explain this.

JARROD SPENCER, SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST: She's human. She's normal. No matter what we do and no matter who we are, so many of us struggle with mental health concerns, especially right now during this pandemic. So what she's saying is what a lot of people are feeling, which is anxiety is really fear of the unknown and depression is held inward. And she's human. She's normal. She's experiencing a lot of hurt held inward and anxiety in saying, I need to make some adjustments in my life in order to do this better.

BERMAN: She said a couple of very specific things in her statement. She said she has battled depression since 2018 on and off and she also says she wears those headphones to help her shut out, I think, a lot of distractions in the world.

When you saw that, what did you take from it?

SPENCER: It's a classic sports psychology technique that we often encourage athletes, when you put on your headphones, it's a universal symbol to everybody around you to leave me alone. I'm really focusing on myself right now and I'm trying to shift my mind into that optimal place where I can perform really well.

And so her use of headphones was kind of a passive way to let people know, please stay back. Let me be by myself at this particular moment.

I actually think that's a really good way to manage anxiety in the situation.

BERMAN: What could tennis have done or what can tennis do going forward?

SPENCER: Well, I think the key right there, John, is moving forward. And that is, we've got to really look at the policies in place. We've got to re-evaluate mental health. And it's not just lip service, which may come from a lot of individuals, it's really about putting the time in the funding. This isn't just a professional thing. This isn't the high school level. This is at the collegiate level. And really even through a lot of pro sports, we've got to put the funding in place to give these young athletes especially the emotional regulation skills that they need to manage the pressure, not just on the court, for example, but off it.

BERMAN: There were some players who said, look, we've got to answer questions from reporters. It's part of the job.

SPENCER: Sure.

BERMAN: Does that address the central issue here?

SPENCER: It doesn't because at times all of us are going to struggle. And there needs to be more socially acceptable outlets for these athletes and for people when they do struggle to say, you know what, I'm really only able to do x, y or z today. I'm not able to do this other stuff. And if they -- if an individual is injured, for example, with a physical injury that's more visible, we might give them a pass a little bit more. But for the invisible injuries, often mental health is invisible, people will suffer in silence. And we've got to come up with better ways to give them an opportunity to say, it's OK not to be OK and we're going to let you have a pass here today.

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE) tennis players, by the way, they're out there alone. They're not like, you know, team sport athletes, they're out there alone all by themselves.

SPENCER: Right. A lot of pressure.

BERMAN: Thanks so much for being with us.

Jarrod Spencer, appreciate it.

SPENCER: My pleasure.

BERMAN: So democracy itself is in peril. That is the message from President Biden as Republicans increase efforts to curb voting rights. Are Democrats doing enough to fight back?

KEILAR: Plus, a Florida concert promoter is offering a new vaccine incentive or perhaps a disincentive, a ticket discount of $980. How will Florida's governor respond?

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[06:48:34]

KEILAR: In an effort to get more people vaccinated, a Florida concert promoter has devised a unique ticket pricing idea, charging just $18 for concert goers who are vaccinated against COVID-19 and almost $1,000 for anyone who hasn't gotten the shot. The band, Teenage Bottlerocket, will perform at a venue next month that is operating under these restrictions.

And joining us now is Miguel Chen, he's the bass player and the tour manager for Teenage Bottlerocket.

OK, what was your reaction when you learned the promoter was going to be setting up the ticket pricing like this, Miguel?

MIGUEL CHEN, BASS PLAYER/TOUR MANAGER, TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET: Honestly, at first I thought he was joking. And then after ticket sales went out, we realized he was not joking. But we also noticed that immediately a lot of people bought tickets realizing that that was going to be the stipulation. So we thought, well, Paul, the promoter, obviously, knows something about his scene and the way that they want to try and do shows that we don't.

KEILAR: And so, for you, is this -- you know, does this make sense to have a safe show? Is this a good way to do that to you?

CHEN: I think that there's -- there's a lot of ways to try and have a safe show. And I think that guidelines are changing and what we know during the pandemic are changing so much that it's kind of up to each promoter in each city to try and figure out what's going to work best in their particular market.

[06:50:07]

So, you know, we have promoters on this tour who are doing outdoor shows because they feel that's the best way to keep people safe. We have promoters on this tour who are doing temperature checks and wellness checks at the door because they feel that's how to keep people safe. And this was Paul's particular vision. And it seems like people in his city are responding really well. And, generally speaking, I think if people don't like this particular setup, you know, there are other options. They can -- they can go to one of our other shows and work within those regulations, you know.

KEILAR: Yes. So, the governor of Florida, and I'm sure you're aware of this because of maybe some blowback that you've gotten, but the governor has put in place regulations, there are laws in place in Florida, for instance, the law that he signed that bans vaccine passports. There is an executive order that stops businesses from making their patrons prove that they have been vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Does this plan come up against that? Because it seems here that you are asking for a verification between vaccinated or unvaccinated?

CHEN: Yes, I mean, it's interesting. And I think in Paul's head it's similar to if you go to Krispy Kreme and you willingly show your ID card, your vaccination record, they'll give you a free donut or something. So in a sense he's not requiring anybody to show their card. You -- he's just incentivizing it.

So I'm not exactly sure the legalities or the ethics, but I do know that he's a guy who's doing his best to protect the concert goers in his city. And I also know that, you know, there's 250 people who bought tickets to the show understanding that those were the stipulations. And I think they're all going to very happily show their vaccination records so that they can come party and have a good time and not have to worry.

KEILAR: Look, I think everyone wants to have a fun time and, you know, most people want to do it safely. But if I can just ask you, you mentioned the Krispy Kreme example. Isn't it more like charging, you know, whatever the normal price is for a Krispy Kreme donut, maybe a couple dollars, but then if you're, you know, unvaccinated it's like charging $50 or $60 because, you know, that -- not -- when you look at the cost of these tickets, $999, that's like -- I mean that's like four seats for The Stones, right? So it's really more of a disincentive for folks who are unvaccinated.

CHEN: Yes. And it might be that. But, you know, I think that for the most part Teenage Bottlerocket fans, you know, us as a band, we don't want to discriminate or exclude anybody. So we've tried to leave the door open. So if this particular setup doesn't work for anyone, there are other concerts they can attend where that's not the stipulation.

So, again, I think it's about promoter and his own scene and him doing what he thinks is best. And the local St. Petersburg punk scene is responding typically very well. And for people who feel left out, you know, us as a band, we're saying you're very welcome to come see us at any of our other dates. We have six shows in Florida on that same tour.

KEILAR: Well, Miguel, we know this is an exciting time. You get to get back out there and perform. We've talked to a lot of artists who are just, you know, thrilled to be doing what they are meant to do.

So, good luck as you tour.

Miguel Chen, appreciate it.

CHEN: Yes, thank you guys so much for having. I can't wait to be back on the road.

KEILAR: We bet you can't. Well, your fans are going to be very excited to see you, Miguel. Thank you.

CHEN: Thank you.

KEILAR: Michael Flynn backtracking after appearing to endorse a military coup in the U.S.

BERMAN: Plus, the vice president's staff working to distance her from the problems at the border. CNN has brand new reporting, next.

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[06:59:15]

BERMAN: This morning, 10 million people under flash flood watches from Missouri to Texas as extreme heat grips the west.

CNN's meteorologist Chad Myers joins us now.

Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John, nice weather in the east but the south is going to get wet and the west will be over 100 degrees today.

This weather is brought to you by Carvana, the new way to buy a car.

SO there's the rain now headed towards east Texas into about Houston and then into Louisiana later on this afternoon and some spots will pick up two to four inches of rainfall. Now, on top of places that just don't need any rain at all. They've had plenty. Plenty for the year almost in some spots. And here's the map where you see the yellow areas, two to four.

Now by Thursday there will be some rain across parts of the northeast, but what you'll notice is the weather that you wanted for the weekend over the next three days here.

[07:00:00]

Temperatures very close to normal, but not normal out west. Fifteen degrees above in some spots.

NEW DAY continues right now.