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Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) is Interviewed about McConnell's Supreme Court Comment; Tropical Storm Bill Churning off Coast; Major Airlines Experience Tech Issues; Democrats Probing Trump's DOJ's Surveillance; Greene Apologizes for Holocaust Comments; Biden Meets with EU Leaders and Putin. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 15, 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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[06:31:42]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell making clear how far he will go to control the U.S. Supreme Court. Remember, McConnell blocked the nomination of Merrick Garland with nearly a year left in the Obama administration. Now he says he would do it all over again and maybe then some.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): I think it's highly unlikely. In fact, no, I don't think either party if it controlled -- if it were different from the president would confirm a Supreme Court nominee the middle of an election. What was different in 2020 was we were of the same party as the president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So he says he would do the Merrick Garland thing all over again and even goes further than that saying that if the Republicans take back the U.S. Senate in 2023, this is basically a year and a half from now, he doesn't know. He'd have to wait and see whether he would even confirm a U.S. Supreme Court nominee then.

Joining us is Ro Khanna, he's a Democratic congressman from California, a member of the House Oversight Committee.

So, Congressman Khanna, you hear Mitch McConnell promise basically if the Republicans take back the Senate not to confirm in 2024 and basically more or less tell us he would not confirm in 2023.

What are you going to do about it?

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): Yes, first of all, it's just rank hypocrisy. As everyone knows, he rushed through Justice Amy Barrett on -- with seven, eight days before the election. And now he's saying that even two years before the next presidential election he's not going to confirm someone.

We -- this is why the Senate control in the midterms matter. I think you're going to see record turnout from Democrats across the country. It's also why we need term limits for Supreme Court justices. I have a bill, which others are supporting, which says every president ought to get two appointees to the Supreme Court and limit it to an 18-year term.

BERMAN: Justice Stephen Breyer, who was, of course, nominated by President Clinton, he's over 80 years old at this point. Now that this statement has been made definitively by Mitch McConnell, would you like to see Justice Breyer retire now, soon, so that Joe Biden can nominate --

KHANNA: So that --

BERMAN: Go ahead. I'll let you answer.

KHANNA: Well, that's not my place. Justice Breyer is one of the -- Justice Breyer is one of the great Supreme Court justice. He is one of the great jurists of our generation. It's not the place, in my view, for any member of Congress to be telling Justice Breyer what to do. He's not telling me to retire. I think that's ageist and I don't think that's appropriate.

BERMAN: You have said, though, you want term limits for justices. So, in a way, you're saying you would like him see him retire, even if you're not saying it by name. But you think this is worth losing potentially a seat on the Supreme Court. And when I say losing, more liberal judges.

KHANNA: Well, I think each justice will know the politics and will make a responsible decision. But I don't think we ought to be making determinations based on people's age. I do think every Supreme Court justice should have up to an 18-year term. And we need more generally Supreme Court term limits. And we need every president to get two appointees. That would be a fair process. It would depoliticize the Supreme Court in some ways.

[06:35:04]

But it's unfair, in my view, to just say someone is older and we're going to target them and tell them what to do. I think many Americans who are older would resent that. I mean we have a president who is older. I just don't think that that's appropriate.

BERMAN: I want to ask you about this man in New Hampshire whose name is Jason Riddle. He was arrested during the Capitol riot. He was the guy seen drinking wine that he found in one of the offices there.

He now says he's considering running for Congress in New Hampshire. And he says even more than that.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JASON RIDDLE, RUNNING FOR CONGRESS: In the long run, if you're running for office, I guess any attention is good attention. So I think it will help me.

Despite my ongoing legal problems, I'm supposed to live my life how I want to live it. And it's something I want to do, so, why not do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: He more or less says he thinks the insurrection will help him. Is he wrong when you're talking about Republican primaries?

KHANNA: It's unbelievable. This is why, John, people have such a low opinion of those of us serving in Congress and why Congress continues to poll so poorly. I mean it's remarkable that someone like this is even being considered for public office. And it's why today's hearing, which I'm on with the Oversight Committee, with Christopher Wray, is going to matter. And one of the questions that people will be asking him is, do you have any intelligence on these militia groups? Why was there no action to prevent it?

I don't think he will prevail. I hope for our country he doesn't prevail. But it's scary that he -- someone like him thinks he has any chance and is going to get media attention over it.

BERMAN: Talk to me more about this hearing today. You will get to ask questions of Christopher Wray. What more do you want to hear from him? And, also, Charles Flynn, who is the brother of Michael Flynn. But that's not why he's before you today. He's before you because he was the deputy Army chief of staff at the time of the insurrection. What do you expect from him?

KHANNA: Well, with Christopher Wray, he's an honorable public servant, but he went to the Judiciary Committee and he said, we've got to do better. I'm going to take a hard look at it. You know, if the 49ers coach were to say that after a season, that wouldn't cut it. He needs to be more specific. What were the failures? Why did it go wrong? And what specifically is he going to do?

In terms of the deputy chief of staff to the Army, there has to be an explanation to the American people on the timeline. Why is it that people called for help almost four hours before the National Guard went in, even though it took them 12 minutes to get there? This was an attack on our country, on our democracy and it shows weakness. And we have to show the world that we will never let it happen again.

BERMAN: Congressman Ro Khanna, I noticed you brought up the 49ers. And I do remember that we spent the morning together the day the 49ers played the Super Bowl against Kansas City. Lost, albeit. It's not my fault that I was with you that morning.

KHANNA: John, you've got a great memory. I'm impressed.

BERMAN: Yes, well, I'll --

KHANNA: I'm impressed. You interview so many people. I'm impressed. BERMAN: Well, you're the only one who snuck in a 49ers reference a

year and a half later. So, Congressman Ro Khanna, thanks very much for that.

KHANNA: Thank you.

BERMAN: So conspiracy Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene visiting a Holocaust museum after her offensive remarks. Wait until you hear what happened.

Plus, ahead of his summit with Vladimir Putin, President Biden takes on Republicans directly overseas, right, beyond our borders, across the ocean. He takes on their, quote, phony populism.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And the computer glitch causing big headaches for air travelers this morning.

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[06:42:38]

KEILAR: New overnight, Tropical Storm Bill is churning in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North Carolina. So let's see what is happening there.

Chad Myers, what are we keeping our eye on here?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Really some heat across the southwest. Bill and maybe Claudette. The tropics are really getting going here, Brianna. This is a storm, though, that will stay out into the ocean, maybe making a run at Newfoundland. I'll get to that in just a second.

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

So, yes, St. John's, Newfoundland, you may see a 40 miles per hour storm later in the week but this is the storm we're watching. It doesn't have a name yet. It could be Claudette if it does continue to develop. There's a 70 percent chance of that in the next five days.

But the storm will move into the Gulf of Mexico. And it will move over an area that doesn't need any more rain, New Orleans, Louisiana, all the way back over into parts of Mississippi and Alabama could pick up five to seven inches of additional rain on places that are already flooding.

And the heat continues out west. Vegas yesterday was over 100. In fact, over 110. Today another one. Look at Phoenix, 117. You've got to take care of the pets. I know there's a joke out there, it will melt your flip-flops, but you have to take care of the pets and the elderly. That is darn hot for this time of the year.

Brianna.

KEILAR: One hundred and seventeen. I don't care if it's a dry heat, Chad Myers, that is crazy hot.

MYERS: That's right, it is.

KEILAR: All right, Chad, thank you so much.

MYERS: You're welcome.

BERMAN: Breaking overnight, three major U.S. airlines experiencing computer issues that are affecting flights at airports across the country.

CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans here with more.

What are we seeing?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, bottom line here, check ahead before you head to the airport if you need to. Tech glitches overnight for Southwest Airlines, Delta and Alaska Airlines, John. Planes grounded, travel delayed across the U.S.

A nationwide ground stop for Southwest. More than 1,400 flights delayed. Southwest is blaming a glitch with a third party weather data provider and the flight crews couldn't take off without critical weather information, of course. That left air travelers waiting hours for flights, missing their connections or stuck on planes. Passengers took to social media to express their frustration and demand answers. This morning, Southwest gradually returning to normal operations.

And good luck booking a new flight on Delta or Alaska Airlines. Customers there couldn't book new flights Monday because of a completely different computer glitch. Delta told CNN it is working to fix that issue. Alaska did not respond for comment.

You know, John, the world is returning to pre-pandemic air travel. People are moving. Airport security checkpoints are seeing a record number of passengers.

[06:45:01]

That also means more issues. The FAA says there have been nearly 3,000 unruly passengers so far this year. Far and away above what we usually see. We usually see 100 to 150 a year. And 3,000 already, John.

BERMAN: Many jerks flying, Romans, no questions about that.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: But as for the computers, look, people want to get back in the air. These airlines, I'm sure, want to be next to perfect right now if they can be. Got to keep --

ROMANS: Got to fix it.

BERMAN: Got to keep those passengers happy.

Thank you so much.

So just in, new emails show how Donald Trump and his allies pressured the Justice Department to investigate ridiculous conspiracy theories.

KEILAR: Plus, a surprising development ahead of the Biden/Putin summit. An American judge suggesting the two countries swap prisoners, including the Russian who's known as the merchant of death.

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KEILAR: The House Judiciary Committee will investigate the subpoenas issued by President Trump's Justice Department for the records of members of Congress and reporters. And this is developing as Attorney General Merrick Garland vows to investigate and directs the Justice Department to strengthen its policies for seeking congressional records.

Let's talk about this now with CNN political analyst David Gregory.

You're seeing this increasing call among Democrats in leadership to say, hey, we need to hear from attorneys general, former, Barr and sessions. What do you think about this kind of mounting pressure and if we're actually going to be seeing any accountability in the form of congressional hearings?

[06:50:03]

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: We certainly haven't we -- we've not seen Trump officials exceed to these subpoena requests by the House Judiciary Committee going back to the Russian investigation. I'm hard pressed to believe that you're going to see Bill Barr or Sessions now, especially if some of these orders predated when Barr was there.

Senate, you know, Minority Leader McConnell already said, look, let the inspector general do this. This is now a politically-motivated investigation.

It's a valid investigation. These sorts of leak investigations are going go on. You know, by even an attorney general, a Democratic administration. But when you have what appears to be a blatant abuse of power, a president using a Justice Department to -- to investigate political -- perceived political enemies and the media, then you have to look at how you go about all of this. And the Justice Department has to pull way back. And that's what the attorney general is doing now, Lisa Monaco will do now, to try to figure out where -- what are the new rules of the road here, how we're going to deal with news media or investigating members of Congress.

KEILAR: The Obama administration was aggressive about investigating journalists.

GREGORY: Right.

KEILAR: Do you see, based on the announced from the Biden administration, about, you know, what it is and is not going to do, that the Biden administration is dialing this back even further beyond what the Obama administration was doing?

GREGORY: Well, I think the Obama administration decided to pull back after they got pretty aggressive and the attorney general, Eric Holder, got aggressive and they decided to pull back then.

So, yes, I see the Biden administration pulling back more now. This administration says, look, you've got to have good, investigative journalism. But I don't think we should lose sight of the fact that somebody like the current attorney general, who has deep experience in the Justice Department with sensitive investigations, is still going to try to stop what they would consider to be the illegal leaking of classified information or, you know, information that they would like to keep secret otherwise.

So it's not like this goes away. But the problem with using it to target your perceived enemies is that this becomes a separation of powers argument. And that's why Congress has to do its job here, not only to protect their members, but to protect journalists because that's what you saw in the Trump administration is that attempt to weaponize a Justice Department, to use it in a way that we've seen in the past.

KEILAR: So, yesterday, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, apologized sort of for her comments that she had made where she was talking about House mask mandates being -- and vaccination passports, likening them to the Holocaust. This is what she said after touring the Holocaust Museum in D.C.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): And I have made a mistake and it's really bothered me for a couple of weeks now. And so I definitely want to own it.

The horrors of the Holocaust are something that some people don't even believe happened. And some people deny. But there is no comparison to the Holocaust. And there are words that I have said and remarks that I have made that I know are offensive. And for that I want to apologize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, this comes after she said over and over again that she stood by her remarks, even compounding her remarks in how bad they were. And she also, in the same breath as that, refused to walk back comparing Democrats to the Nazi party.

GREGORY: Yes.

KEILAR: What do you make of this?

GREGORY: Well, it's just -- it's unfortunate that you have such small- minded people who are actually federal representatives. You know, there can be a learning curve with people who are new to politics, who may misspeak and all the rest, but this is beyond that. This is obviously an ignorant person who continues to spew her ignorance.

You know, the problem in our public life is that we should stop using labels to apply them to other situations. And really there's almost no call to use Hitler, the Nazis or the Holocaust to apply it to any other situation except Hitler, the Nazis and the Holocaust. It exists in its own space.

And it's such a conversation stopper if you're trying to make a serious point that it just renders you, what she is, which is a totally unserious person. And, you know, how many times do we have to go through with this certain members of Congress who keep making these similar mistakes who aren't really learning anything. It's a waste of everybody's time, that this is what passes for, you know, congressional representation.

KEILAR: Strong words. I agree with them.

David Gregory, thank you so much.

If you can stand by for us.

GREGORY: Sure.

KEILAR: We're actually getting some more information about tomorrow's face to face meeting between President Biden and Vladimir Putin and what is on the line here for both countries. We're going to have a live report from Geneva coming up.

BERMAN: And CNN obtains new emails showing how former President Trump and his allies pressured the Justice Department in an effort to overturn the 2020 election.

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[06:56:01]

BERMAN: As we speak, President Biden is meeting with leaders of the European Union. This is the third stop on his first international trip. First was the G7, then NATO, this morning the European Union and then tomorrow the big meeting with Vladimir Putin.

Back with us to discuss what the goals are here, CNN political analyst David Gregory, and joining us in this discussion, former spokeswoman for the U.S. mission to the U.N. and former U.S. Treasury Department spokeswoman, Hagar Chemali.

Hagar, thanks so much for being here. Great to see you.

HAGAR CHEMALI, FORMER SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE U.S. MISSION TO THE U.N.: Likewise. Thanks.

BERMAN: Look, I want to -- even though what the president's doing today is hugely important, I want to look to tomorrow because I think this is the most anticipated moment of the trip.

What are you looking for in this meeting with Vladimir Putin?

CHEMALI: I -- first of all, I agree with you. The whole trip was strategically created in order to run up to this this meeting at the end, right? I mean the G7 and the NATO summit were happening, obviously. But trips like this take months in the planning, I can tell you having been on the other side. And for them, for the Biden team to schedule a meeting in neutral grounds in Switzerland with Putin, who President Biden said was a, quote, killer a few months ago, is a big deal. But to allow Biden to go in there after having had these summits, this love fest, if you will, with these democratic nations for the most part, where he can go in and when he explains what the type of activity he doesn't tolerate, he -- Putin is going to know he's got all these countries behind him.

Now, I don't expect Putin's behavior to change overnight, but it is one step that is setting the stage for the next four years.

BERMAN: Do you feel that the Biden administration is getting what it wants to so far out of is this trip in advance of the Putin meeting? Basically what I'm asking you is, how have they done so far?

CHEMALI: I would -- I'd give it an A minus, or maybe even an A, to tell you the truth.

Let me explain why. First, for all of us I think the bar is a little bit low because the past four years have not really had -- have not produced successful or productive G7 meetings, NATO summits and so on and a lot of that is because of a lack of American leadership over the last four years, right? President Trump didn't value re-enforcing our alliances, he didn't see the enormous benefit we derived from that and certainly not democratic values. The first trip that President Trump took was to -- former President Trump was to Saudi Arabia, not to the U.K. and Belgium for these types of summits.

So the bar is low. But even for something where the bar is low, had this been before the last four years, I would have ranked this as very successful. And the reason for that is because the statements have been really strong, especially when you're talking about China. The G7 has historically shied away from saying anything about China. President Macron of France already said this week that he doesn't want the G7 to be considered a club against China. But the fact is that the statement was quite strong, calling out their unfair trade practices and their human rights abuses in Xinjiang and in Hong Kong.

BERMAN: It's funny, the immediate goal is dealing with Russia, but the larger goal of this trip is, in fact, China. In fact, in some ways even the Russia meeting is about China.

CHEMALI: Oh, absolutely, 100 percent. And, you know, you saw it, the theme after -- stayed through the NATO summit, right? European leaders are reticent to call China out too strongly, in particular the French and the Germans.

[07:00:04]

They still have very close economic ties, as do we, by the way. I mean we have close, economic ties.