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New Day

Biden's Worldview Crystallizes as he Pushes Democracy Abroad; Rerun, Trump Obsesses on Old Grievances, Wind Mill Conspiracies; New York Reopens after 70 Percent of Adults Receive at least One Vaccine Dose. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 17, 2021 - 07:00   ET

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

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A lot of people live there, they visit, but Death Valley was 125 yesterday, even Phoenix over 115.

[07:00:06]

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

Make sure your car has air-conditioning and pets have water and some shade, 150, record highs are in jeopardy over the next couple of days, even Vegas and Phoenix back over 110, 115. Omaha, all my friends out there that live in Millard, 105 degrees out there in the middle part of the country.

And one more thing, it's hot, so we would expect it to be tropical storm season. We're watching the potential for Claudette developing in the Gulf of Mexico by the weekend.

New Day continues right now.

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

President Biden returning to Washington after his face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin. One outstanding issue, whether Americans currently detained in Russia will be coming home. The family of one prisoner will join us live.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: He ran away like a coward. A D.C. police officer confronts the Republican congressman who compared the Capitol insurrection to a normal tourist visit.

KEILAR: And a more virulent strain of COVID is spreading through the United States. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will join us on what it's like to be infected with this particular strain.

BERMAN: And fighting back against the war on voting. Texas Democrats on the frontlines of their states battle are here.

KEILAR: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. It is Thursday, June 17th.

And President Joe Biden is back on American soil this morning after his first foreign trip since moving into the White House, Biden marking the first of eight days abroad by declaring, quote, the United States is back, a signal to American allies that he has turned the page on the perceived tumult of the Trump years.

BERMAN: Here are the takeaways. The president urged E.U. leaders in Brussels to set aside trade disputes and instead focus on growing market threats posed by China. The two promised collaboration on this front with Biden announcing a truce, ending a longstanding trade war with a block that some see as Biden's first major victory in overturning his predecessor's trade legacy.

European leaders also sought to convey a return to some semblance of normal with many publicly endorsing Biden's overtures to restore transatlantic partnership. France's Emmanuel Macron wrote, now that we are together united, determine to make a difference, it's time to deliver. I'm sure we will, Joe Biden.

President Biden also reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to NATO rallying some members of the military alliance to face up to new and growing challenges from China and Russia.

And, lastly, after months of diplomatic wrangling, the high-stakes summit between President Biden and Vladimir Putin, the two leaders agreed to return each country's recalled ambassadors, resumed stalled nuclear talks and begin dialogue aimed at protecting critical infrastructure against cyberattacks.

Biden is now setting a timeframe of six months to a year to see if the two countries have, as he puts it, a strategic dialogue that matters.

KEILAR: President Biden says he brought up human rights during his meeting with Vladimir Putin and that he warned the Russian president of dire consequences if opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies in jail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I made it clear to him that I believe the consequences of that would be devastating for Russia. I'll go back to the same point. What do you think happens when he's saying it's not about hurting Navalny and all the stuff he says to rationalize the treatment of Navalny, and then he dies in prison?

It's about trust. It's about their ability to influence other nations in a positive way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And we're joined now by Leonid Volkov, who is Alexei Navalny's chief of staff.

Leonid, I know that you know what Putin said about Alexei Navalny, but for our viewers, I want to play this. This is Putin who is actually equating Navalny the imprisonment and prosecution of January 6yh rioters who stormed the Capitol with the imprisonment of Navalny. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: This man knew he was breaking the law of Russia. He is somebody who has been twice convicted. He consciously ignored the requirements of the law. The gentleman in question went abroad for treatment. His registration was not asked for. As soon as he went to the hospital, he showed his videos on the internet but ignored the demands of the laws.

Knowing about that, I take the view that he wanted to consciously break the law. He did exactly what he wanted to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Okay. I'm curious what you think about this kind of bizarre response because undercutting all of it is that, by all accounts, Russia appears responsible for the poisoning of Alexei Navalny.

[07:05:00]

And, furthermore, he was actually unconscious when he left Russia for medical treatment, as a colleague of yours actually pointed out on Twitter. What did you think of what Putin said?

LEONID VOLKOV, CHIEF OF STAFF TO KREMLIN CRITIC ALEXEI NAVALNY: Well, it seems like some kind of a mental disorder because actually Putin could have many answers, like being back (ph) and being political, but he preferred to give an answer which is a very clear and blatant lie or maybe it's his political position.

Look, in your face, I'm lying, what will you do to me? Maybe this was exactly the message he wanted to deliver. Because, I mean, pretending that Alexei Navalny consciously tried to avoid -- to pretend that Alexei Navalny consciously tried to violate the conditions of his provisional sentence, being brought to Germany for rehabilitation in coma, it's kind of -- it's so weird, actually.

And many other things that Putin said also, for instance, the anti- corruption foundation, our organization, was educating people how to put together Molotov cocktails or something like this. So he actually produced like many lies during his very short statement, and I wonder if it actually was the message that he wanted to deliver.

KEILAR: Do you -- are you saying that it was him being sort of flagrantly -- I mean, what are you really going to do, I can give this kind of ridiculous answer, what are you going to do about it, or do you think that he actually messed up?

VOLKOV: Well, this is a possibility. This is a possibility because, actually, that was the most important message that I also tried to deliver here in Russia from the sea (ph), talking to many politicians, decision-makers on the eve on this summit in Geneva. So Putin doesn't know such things like compromise, reset button, red line, so every time the west is talking about like reset buttons and redlines, Putin only knows that he could do whatever he wants and he's good to get away with whatever he does. And the rest will still be like talking about strong condemnations and grave concerns. And probably Putin is just, you know, testing the response, like (INAUDIBLE).

KEILAR: To that, Biden warned of devastating consequences if Navalny is -- if he dies in prison. What would you consider devastating consequences to be?

VOLKOV: I'd better don't want to know because I don't want Alexei Navalny to die in prison. And on one hand --

KEILAR: But what consequences would deter Vladimir Putin or encourage him to make sure that Alexei Navalny stays alive?

VOLKOV: Well, that's a very good question. I believe that the real things that could deter Mr. Putin from taking further actions against human rights in Russia and Alexei Navalny in particular is only one possible action which is freezing Vladimir Putin's account.

So, Putin is kind of trying to increase his exchange fund (ph), to get like more hostages, also American citizens and Russian political prisoners. So his assets in billions of dollars that he has stashed abroad, that he has stolen from taxpayers, they have finally also -- they have also to be taken hostage. This could create strong leverage against him and this could really deter him.

KEILAR: Leonid, we know you were very invested in the summit that we just saw. We certainly appreciate you being with us, Leonid Volkov. John?

BERMAN: President Biden also discussed the fate of two U.S. citizens detained in Russia during his meeting with Putin, promising to follow through on bringing them home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I raised the case of two wrongfully imprisoned American citizens, Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed.

The family of the detained American (INAUDIBLE) we discussed it. I'm going to follow through with that discussion. I am not going to walk away on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I am joined now by David Whelan, the brother of Paul, a Marine veteran who was convicted of espionage in June of 2020 and sentenced to 16 years in a Russian prison. David, thank you so much for being with us.

Just start with your reaction to what you heard from President Biden yesterday.

DAVID WHELAN, BROTHER OF DETAINED AMERICAN PAUL WHELAN: The summit was very positive. I think just having it gave us some hope. I think it was beyond our expectations for President Biden to speak so specifically about Paul and Trevor Reed's case and also to be so forthright that he was concerned about it and that he wasn't going to walk away from them.

BERMAN: Have you had any specific contact with the administration or has your family over the last 24 hours?

WHELAN: No. This is something that will take months and perhaps even longer to sort out. But we are hopeful that President Putin mentioning that he was open to compromise on prisoners and President Biden's obviously outspoken position on Paul Whelan is very positive.

[07:10:05]

BERMAN: Does it give you more hope or why does it give you more hope that your brother could be returned soon?

WHELAN: Paul has been in a Russian prison for about 30 months, so that 900 days of being held hostage in Russia has largely gone silently in the United States. The United States government, they have been doing work behind the scenes, but it was very quiet. In the last few months, we have seen a much more outspoken administration speaking out for American citizens who have been arbitrarily detained in Russia.

And so I think, in general, we are seeing that there are opportunities now happening that may lead to Paul's release that just weren't happening in the past.

BERMAN: Talk to me a little bit more about that because it sounded -- we played the totality, really, of what President Biden said out loud yesterday about your brother, but that, in and of itself, just saying his name out loud, you think, is a big difference. How much of a difference?

WHELAN: Well, I think it's part of a big difference. Part of it is the that U.S. government and the Russian Federations' government have not been communicating well over the last 2.5 years, certainly the time that Paul's been held hostage. And so having this sort of event happen at all and having them discuss what they were talking about, I think, gives us the hope and the specificity of talking about Paul's case, I think, is the big difference for us.

BERMAN: Now, you know Vladimir Putin floated the idea of some kind of a prisoner exchange and there's concern by some in the United States and around the world that the Russian prisoners here are a whole different type of bad guy, as it were than your brother, who you contend was wrongly -- convicted wrongly imprisoned, as President Biden said yesterday. So how much in your mind do you think the U.S. should be willing to trade here?

WHELAN: Well, I think you are making a mistake on focusing on a trade or an exchange. I'm not suggesting that at all. I would like to see Paul released. It would be wrong for the Americans to start a precedent of trading tourists that are arbitrarily detained by foreign governments for people who actually are terrible people, arms dealers, drug traffickers, that sort of thing.

So I think when the words about a compromise on prisoners and President Biden's comments about Paul came out, we were open to the fact that there may be a release for Paul. But I think the details about whether it happens and how it happens are yet to be seen.

BERMAN: You make fair points there. Lastly, do you have a sense of how Paul is doing at this moment?

WHELAN: This week, he is getting medical treatment for a respiratory ailment he has and for an injury he has suffered from making clothing in the labor camp.

BERMAN: Well, we wish him the best. We hope he has a speedy recovery from that and we certainly hope you get to see him in person soon on U.S. soil. David Whelan, thanks so much for being with us.

WHELAN: Thank you. Thanks so much. Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Next, a D.C. officer badly injured on January 6th returns to the Capitol on a mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL FANONE, CAPITOL POLICE OFFICER: As soon as the elevator doors opened, he ran as quickly as he could like a coward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Why he is now calling one lawmaker's behavior disgusting.

KEILAR: And an expert says this is, quote, COVID on steroids. We have Dr. Sanjay Gupta to join us on this more contagious coronavirus strain that is really grabbing the CDC's attention.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00]

BERMAN: President Biden back from his first overseas trip, the highlight or at least pinnacle was this face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin, and so much of what came out of it has been put in juxtaposition with the meeting between Vladimir Putin and the last U.S. president, Donald Trump, where Donald Trump said that he believed Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence, an admittedly low bar for the current president.

Joining us now to discuss, CNN Political Analyst Maggie Haberman, Washington Correspondent for the New York Times. And this was a different summit that President Biden had than what President Trump had. I'm curious what the reaction in Trump world is with so many people over the last 24 hours saying, well, this certainly wasn't Helsinki.

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. And remember in Helsinki, they were next to each other, Putin and Trump. Biden and Putin held separate press conferences after this summit. This is the event that I would say underscored for people around Trump and for the former president himself the fact that he's not president anymore, right? I mean, this was the kind of event on the world stage getting enormous attention that he really enjoyed, that he saw as one of the trappings of the office that he thought really spoke to a sense of power and strength.

There was also some complaining from people around Trump about President Biden's exchange with Kaitlan Collins yesterday when she yelled out a question and he sort of got snippy in response, and their complaint was, if we did that, it would be a huge complaint. That is true. On the other hand, Joe Biden has not called the press the enemy of the people, so this is not an equal thing. But I think that there was just -- it was the real moment of, oh, someone else is president and not Donald Trump.

BERMAN: Trumpian Fomo, I think, is what the kids call it.

HABERMAN: Yes. Basically, yes, that was a good coinage, especially this early in the morning.

BERMAN: So as part of that, he apparently felt the need to talk last night, go and do an interview, and he talked in an interesting way about his political present and political future, and I want to play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT (voice over): So I'm very honored to say that my endorsement means more than any endorsement that has ever been given by anybody.

I'll be working and getting a lot of great people elected, and then we'll be making a decision on 2024. But if you look at the numbers, people are liking me more now than ever before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That last concept appears really important to him, so important that his organization sent an email around yesterday telling everyone he's more popular than ever before, he's the leader of the Republican Party. It really seems to matter to him.

[07:20:00]

HABERMAN: So I think two things are going on, John, and I don't think they can be taken away from each other and seen separately. One is the fact that, yes, obviously, former President Trump likes to be liked, he likes to be liked by Republicans, he talked about his endorsement in the primaries throughout his time as presidency. And so I think that he wants to keep that going.

But remember this is all taking place as he is facing the prospect of an indictment in Manhattan from the Manhattan district attorney. We know that there could be charges against his chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, in the coming weeks. We know that there's a question about whether Donald Trump himself or anyone else at the company could get charged. And so I think when you look at how he is talking about his political future, A, I was struck that he didn't say anything about the unfair election the way that he has before in that interview, unfair being his word, not mine, but also I think he is missing a level of protection that he felt like he had when he was in the White House, some kind of if not actual full immunity, some level of a belief that people were not going to charge a sitting president. I think that he is talking about keeping his political options alive because he sees it in part as a shield against what could be coming.

BERMAN: That's interesting. Do you have -- have you heard or what have you heard about how he is specifically preparing for this? Because that presents it in a new light to me, at least, that what he's doing now is all-in or at least partially in run-up to things that he fears may happen.

HABERMAN: Look. What he's doing in terms of preparing for a possible indictment is he is holding a lot of meetings at Trump Tower. There was a picture the other day of him emerging from Trump Tower, which I was surprised it took that long for somebody to see he was there. He's been there for many weeks going back and forth between his club at Bedminster, New Jersey, and Trump Tower.

He is preparing to describe this as a, quote/unquote, political witch hunt. I think you've heard that before. And I think you will hear a lot of that if the prosecution moves forward, as the prosecutors have given every signal that they're going to. It is going to be a very familiar playbook. But, again, I just don't think that you can disentangle these two things.

BERMAN: He's taking meetings in Trump Tower on the possible indictment? He's meeting with lawyers, political advisers?

HABERMAN: He's meeting with advisers, he is meeting with his sons who were running the company while he was president. He is meeting with his own attorneys. This is a -- not the only focus of attention, but it is a focus of attention.

BERMAN: Finally, one thing happened yesterday that I think is worthy of note, which is that the current Justice Department dropped its investigation, also dropped any, you know, types of censure on former National Security Adviser John Bolton for the publishing of his book. Did Trump win here though? I mean, clearly, he was trying to stifle Bolton from publishing and writing what he wrote, but did Trump get what he wanted out of this?

HABERMAN: I don't actually think Trump did get what he wanted out of this. I think that when this prosecution was initiated, I think the idea really was punitive. And I think the idea was -- and there were people within the government who also felt like they had to set that precedent. It wasn't just do what Donald Trump wants.

I think he won only in the sense that some officials around him won't have to testify about what they were told and what he told them on this prosecution, but, no, I think this was a -- it's hard to look at this as anything other than a victory for John Bolton, and I don't think that Trump would see this as a win for him.

BERMAN: Maggie Haberman, so great to see you. Thank you so much for joining us.

So, a former White House advisers calls a new coronavirus variant is COVID on steroids. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us next.

KEILAR: Plus, a hero officer from the Capitol attack says a Republican lawmaker refused to shake his hand. He'll join us live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

KEILAR: America is reopening New York and California, two states hit hard by the pandemic, are declaring a victory of sorts over the virus. CNN has reporters covering this story from coast to coast.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jean Casarez in New York City. If you were thinking about coming to New York this weekend, Governor Andrew Cuomo is announcing that since at least 70 percent of New Yorkers have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, all state- mandated restrictions of COVID-19 are going to be lifted.

Now this includes requirements on capacity restrictions, social distancing, cleaning and disinfection protocols and contact tracing. But masks are going to continue to be required in pre-K, public transportation and health care settings.

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Nick Watt in Los Angeles, where the governor of California, he doesn't say that the economy here is coming back, he claims it is roaring back. California is now pretty much completely reopened because the state has vaccinated enough people. Dodger Stadium now back at full capacity. At Disneyland, visitors from across the U.S., the vaccinated ones anyway, can now roam free maskless.

BERMAN: All right, something else opening up. Late night shows with live studio audiences, not to mention phenomenal live guests.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT: When you were here, 15 months ago, I asked you if it was time to stop dating, and you said, yes. Dr. Sanjay Gupta --

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That was science.

COLBERT: I understand. Can we date again? Are you endorsing hot vac summer? No pressure.

GUPTA: Yes, I am.

COLBERT: That's science.

GUPTA: That's science. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Joining us now, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent and Love Doctor Sanjay Gupta.

So, Sanjay --

GUPTA: I didn't know where he was going go with his questions.

BERMAN: Yes. Well, no. Now, I have weekend plans thanks to you.

Look, what was it like to be in the studio there after all that time?

GUPTA: It was wonderful and it was weird too. You know, I mean even here, John, to be honest with you, we're sitting like this.

[07:30:00]

This hasn't happened since, you know, the beginning of last year. It's been --

BERMAN: There's an electricity, let's go with that.

GUPTA: That's right, yes. But it's one of those things where you follow the science, you know?