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New Day

Gunman Arrested for Random Shooting Spree in Arizona; New Footage Released of Violence During Riots at Capitol on January 6th; Donald Trump Writes Op-Ed Opposing Critical Race Theory being Taught in Schools; Senate Republicans Oppose Federal Voting Reform Bill; Putin Offers Rare Praise for Biden After Geneva Summit. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired June 18, 2021 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

JARED BERNSTEIN, MEMBER, WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: A growth rate in GDP that they're forecasting for this year of seven percent, that's the strongest growth rate since the mid-80s. That strong growth as supply chains are coming back online is going to lead to some transitory price increases, and that's what we're seeing. But again, the key word is "transitory" as the demand kind of links up and price signals signal these supply chains to come back online.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Paid to be concerned and you earn your money. Jared Bernstein, I appreciate you being with us. Thank you very much.

NEW DAY continues right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Brianna Keilar alongside John Berman. On this NEW DAY, hand-to-hand combat at the Capitol, a new look at the brutal battle on January 6th from just released body cam video. Plus, Vladimir Putin praising President Biden after their sit- down summit. What's his angle here?

BERMAN: The GOP just rejected Senator Joe Manchin's attempt to compromise on voting rights. What happens now? Beto O'Rourke joins us this morning.

And the fast food manager falsely accused of giving poisoned milk shakes to New York City police officers is fighting back. He joins us live.

KEILAR: Good morning to you viewers here in the United States and around the world. It is Friday, June 18th. And a gunman is under arrest this morning, suspected in apparently a random and deadly shooting spree in Arizona. Four people were shot, one was killed, nine others were injured by shrapnel and debris in the chaos. Eight shooting incidents taking place in the suburbs of Phoenix all on Thursday afternoon, and this latest shooting rampage happening as gun violence escalates across the country.

BERMAN: Already this year there have been 282 mass shootings in the U.S. CNN's Kyung Lah is live in Arizona this morning with the latest on this spree. What, 90 minutes, but 90 minutes or so of terror, Kyung.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Especially in this particular time, because it was just before lunchtime, John. A lot of people were out. And this area, this is generally an outlying suburb, a lot of people who are retired. It is very hot out, but people were driving around, and that is what happened. Police say these are drive- by style shootings. Four people were shot. One was killed. And there were eight separate shooting incidents. From what police say, the person who was killed was just driving down the freeway, got shot, drove off the freeway, and the car ended in a concrete canal. Because of how random this all is, police say that this was absolutely frightening but also senseless.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. BRANDON SHEFFERT, PEORIA POLICE: We don't know the nexus. We don't know what the motive was. We don't have an idea of what this person was thinking when he went out and did this. Obviously, we want to figure that out because there's a lot of scared people, a lot of people who this affected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: The suspect was arrested. A firefighter who heard the suspect car description over the radio saw the vehicle matching that description. Authorities were called in, and that suspect was taken into custody peacefully. John?

BERMAN: Kyung Lah for us in Arizona. I have to say that the real tragedy here beyond what just happened there is this doesn't seem out of place in the United States at this moment. Kyung, thank you so much for helping us understand. Brianna?

KEILAR: The Justice Department is releasing some harrowing new body cam video from the capitol insurrection. And we must warn you that the audio in this footage is uncensored. This is body cam video used in a case against Thomas Webster, who is a former marine, also a retired New York City police officer, who stands accused of participating in the January 6th riot. Prosecutors say Webster, who you can see here in this red coat, threatened officers with a flagpole before rushing the barricades with other members of the mob. One of the officers eventually wrestles away the flagpole, but Webster tackles the cop to the ground. Photos also show Webster straddling and grabbing at the officer who was wearing that body camera that you're seeing the video from now, and that officer thrown to the ground. Webster has pleaded not guilty to seven federal crimes.

BERMAN: So you see that video with your own eyes. You see that horror with your own eyes. It makes it all the more stunning that some Republicans and some deranged entertainers keep developing new and provably false ways to say the insurrection did not happen. What stands in their way of this attempt to whitewash January 6th is reality. First, the claim that the Capitol attack was just a tour, which is how Republican Andrew Clyde of Georgia describes it, a normal tourist visit.

[08:05:06]

That assumes your idea of a normal tourist visit involves breaking and climbing through a window, rifling through lawmakers' desks, ransacking offices, and beating law enforcement officers. You will remember it was Clyde who did barricade the door to who he calls tourists.

KEILAR: And myth number two, the rioters were not armed. In the last 24 hours the Justice Department charging yet another rioter with unlawfully bringing a semiautomatic handgun on to Capitol grounds. Rioters also used bear spray, flagpoles, baseball bats to viciously attack police.

BERMAN: Number, three, January 6th was a peaceful protest, another absurd claim, easily disproved with, you know, pictures. And then see above -- rioters used bear spray, flagpoles, baseball bats to viciously attack police.

PAUL: And the fourth, a conspiracy theory that the FBI orchestrated the deadly assault on January 6th. FOX's B.S. ringmaster Tucker Carlson breathing air into this false flag conspiracy theory that originated from a rightwing website. This conspiracy theory is based on references to unindicted co-conspirators in several indictments against Capitol rioters. But legal analysts, all of them, including our own Elie Honig, have called this legally impossible.

BERMAN: Number five, Trump will be reinstated. First it was March. Now it's August. It's a theory that Trump himself is pushing to allies. So this is, A, absurd, B, impossible, and, C, dangerous and could provoke even more violence.

KEILAR: Number six, members of leftwing extremist group Antifa infiltrated Capitol rioters. Here is what FBI Director Chris Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee about this in March.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any evidence at all that it was organized or planned or carried out by groups like Antifa or Black Lives Matter?

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: We have not seen any evidence to that effect thus far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So number seven, the theory that fake Trump supporters attended the rally. Here's FBI director Chris Wray at the same March Senate hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any evidence that the Capitol attack was organized by, quote, fake Trump protesters?

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: We have not seen evidence of that at this stage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Lastly, don't call it an insurrection. Republican Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, who is among a group of Republican lawmakers who this week voted against a measure that would award Congressional Gold Medals to members of both the Capitol Police and the D.C. Metropolitan Police for their bravery, saying, "If they just wanted to give the police recognition, they could have done it without trying to make it partisan, without sticking that in there."

And that is reality. He's talking about the word "insurrection," defined by Merriam Webster as an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government. Here's more harrowing video of that day. What else would you call it?

Let's talk now with CNN political analyst David Gregory. David, looking at this video, and we've seen just data point after data point, the thing is, it's not going to change anything when it comes to how Republicans are relating to what very clearly happened on January 6th. But now you have some Republicans who are embracing this conspiracy theory that this was an FBI insider operation, and we just heard from Denver Riggleman that the DHS is also now being included in that conspiracy theory.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right, and the danger in this is that it begins to get deeper and deeper into the firmament that people actually believe this is the case when it's not, that there are lies, that there are conspiracy theories that take on a form that become more mainstream. And that is the danger of what members of Congress are doing when they know better.

Thankfully, there is a Justice Department that is actually moving forward to prosecute those who were involved. And I think back to the Oklahoma City bombing, which was rife with conspiracy theories about a John Doe two, about the government being aware of what happened. And the justice system working properly has a way of really pushing that aside. This is different because you have such an active media presence pushing politicians to embrace, and then people wanting to believe that something like this is true. It's the embedded danger in our political system right now that has to be opposed all the time.

KEILAR: I want to ask you about something else that just popped up, which is an op-ed by Donald Trump, by the former president about, as he puts it, divisive and radical theories in schools. This is, of course, huge Republican effort to take anything that has to do about race, really any discussion of slavery in a historical context, and make it as if this is about something that children shouldn't learn about, that is divisive, that is actually un-American.

[08:10:09]

And he's fanning the flames. I wonder what that says about the road ahead here.

GREGORY: Yes, well, I think he and plenty of Republicans, and I think it goes beyond the Trump base, would describe it differently than you just did.

KEILAR: Of course.

GREGORY: It would be about taking on the excesses of the left around culture, around what's taught in school, about public discourse, and, yes, even about history and about how to think about America -- America's place in the world and America's place in history.

I think as a political matter, this is really fertile ground for Republicans, because I have said since Biden got elected, what Republicans should want to do is cast Trump and Trumpism aside and focus on the excesses of the left. A pure ideological battle, I think, would yield many more results. And I think this is absolutely going to be a fight over what is taught in public schools. This goes on in private schools as well, but the idea of what is being taught in public schools, what the left stands for. This is going to be a debate. And I think Republicans understand, and this is where you can capture some of Trump's people, even if you want to separate yourself from him on issues like this.

So I think this is a kind of thing to stay. And I think it's interesting, we were talking about, who is giving Trump this forum. What's more interesting to me at the moment is that he's saying this is an issue. This, I think, could be, if there's a new incarnation of Trump, a renewed -- instead of immigration this time, this could be a bigger focus for him as a cultural war to fight.

KEILAR: Certainly, Republicans have focused on the excesses of the left, but they're lumping a lot of things into that as well. Effectively, I think it's really working for them.

I do want to talk to you about something that Stacey Abrams, she was on the show yesterday. She told our John Berman that she would actually support some of the proposals -- some of the ideas that were put forth by Senator Joe Manchin when it comes to voting rights. But now Republicans are just -- they're flatly rejecting this. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STACEY ABRAMS, FOUNDER AND CHAIR, FAIR FIGHT ACTION: What Senator Manchin is putting forward are some basic building blocks that we need to ensure that democracy is accessible no matter your geography. And those provisions that he is setting forth are strong ones that will create a level playing field.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) SENATE MINORITY LEADER: All Republicans, I think, will oppose that, as well, if that were to be surfaced on the floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Is the issue of voting rights dead in this Congress as you see it?

GREGORY: I don't think it's dead yet. I think what was so significant about what happened on the program yesterday, what Stacey Abrams is saying is that she's signaling there's some room to compromise among Democrats, which is where they have to start. If they're not speaking in a united voice, they can't move forward. I certainly think Republicans are united against it, and so this is not going to be a big bipartisan moment here.

And this is fascinating, right, because the fight is boiling down to whether things are so out of control in the states in terms of how they're trying to restrict voting that the feds have to have a national standard. So we get into the issue of states' rights and limited government. Everything is at play here. But I think the first order of business and why what Stacey Abrams said here was so important is Democratic unity. And we understand that comes down in this case to Joe Manchin.

KEILAR: Manchin has talked about bringing Republicans in.

GREGORY: Right.

KEILAR: They will come around. And yet here you see his proposal is getting panned. I wonder what the road forward is for Joe Manchin in this issue and other issues as well.

GREGORY: There's a big -- if he's going to promise that he's a guy who has to be listened to because he can bring some things around, bring Republicans around, this is going to be the testing ground. And McConnell doesn't sound like he's ready to do business with Joe Manchin, because there's enough -- look, this is an area, like what we talked about before, around what's taught in schools, voting rights. This is an animating issue. And unfortunately, so perversely on the right because they are saying that basically the deck is stacked against you, and that it's unfair, when, in fact, voting rights is really about Republicans saying this is a zero-sum game, and if there's more people of color voting we're going to lose as Republicans. But I do think it's an animating issue for people who just sort of take it in and say, yes, this is too much. The federal government is trying to take over.

KEILAR: The battle ahead, I think we see the battle lines there. David Gregory, thank you.

GREGORY: Thanks.

KEILAR: Up next, Russia's Vladimir Putin showering President Biden with praise after their summit. What's that about?

BERMAN: Plus, Republicans try and fail again to kill the Affordable Care Act.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:18:27]

BERMAN: Russian President Vladimir Putin heaping praise on Joe Biden one day after their meeting in Geneva.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This image of President Biden which is pictured by Russian and U.S. media does not correspond to reality.

This image of him can feel discouraging, but there is no need to be discouraged because President Biden is a professional.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Joining me now, Fareed Zakaria, the host of CNN's "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS."

It is worthy of note that Putin talks about the image of Biden and the media. It's an image that he helped stoke months and months ago as did Donald Trump and the Republican Party. But it's notable, Fareed, and you have a brand-new column out today, the language that Putin uses to describe Biden today is a stark contrast with how Putin has described Donald Trump in the last few days. Explain.

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: Well, Putin is a very intelligence man and he's always hedging his bets. I think that people often forget that the Russian operation in 2016 was designed to batter and bruise Hillary Clinton. They believe was going to win. They were surprised that Trump actually won.

I bring this up because when I interviewed Putin around that time, I asked him, why are you praising Donald Trump so much? And he even then hedged. He said I'm just saying he's fascinating and colorful.

And if you look back at the words he's often used about Trump, they have that feeling. Fascinating, colorful, new.

[08:20:03]

Whereas with Biden, he seems to have found, quite frankly, somebody he can do business with in the sense of a professional with whom he can have stable, predictable relations and maybe, you know, Putin is a smart guy. Maybe he realizes, rather than having, frankly, a mercurial clown on the other side of the table, he'd rather have a professional, even if it's someone that would often oppose him.

BERMAN: Professional and smart very different than colorful and that's how he's described both men in the last few days. In this column, where I really think is really a worth a read, Fareed, you also talk about how this trip for President Biden showed the possibilities of diplomacy.

ZAKARIA: Yeah, so, you know, he starts by -- it's very carefully constructed. The trip begins by going to the allies, shoring up the Western position, if you will, on key issues like cooperation among the allies, the vaccine, fighting climate change, and deterring Russian aggression, deterring Russian cyber warfare.

Then he goes to Putin with a united West behind him. And he has a few specific asks and very bold one which is on cyber war for the first time ever, the president of the United States has made clear he would retaliate in kind to a Russian cyberattack. He listed 16 sites that were off limits. He explained what the retaliation might be.

It was a veiled threat. It was, you know, a nice pipelines you have there, carrying all your oil. It would be a shame if something happened to them.

All of that made for a very productive summit, largely because no great expectations. You know, expectations were kept modest, and they were all fulfilled.

BERMAN: You did note also with Putin and Europe, though, there are limits at this moment to American diplomacy because the view of America in the world has changed.

ZAKARIA: Yeah, this is a very important point that we haven't -- in all the surveys, America's image is back. Biden is now trusted by 75 percent of the world. All true, by the way. Remarkable almost doubling of America's approval rating and Biden's approval rating.

One key area remains very low, which is when people are asked, do you believe American democracy is a model for the world, 57 percent on average say no, 65 percent, 67 percent in countries like Canada say no. America is no longer a model it once was, where you ask young people, that skepticism about American democracy is even deeper. Now understand why it's happening because not only we have flaws in our democracy that were revealed on January 6th, we are not trying to fix them. We're going in the opposite direction.

So imagine if after Watergate, I was in India during Watergate and we all looked up to the United States because we thought it's facing up to its democratic flaws and fixing them. Imagine if after Watergate the Republican Party had doubled down on Richard Nixon rather than excommunicating him. And said we're going to write laws that now make it so that everything Nixon did was actually legal.

What if the party only excommunicated those people who criticize Nixon, right? We're in a mode where not only have we exposed a lot of flaws in American democracy, we are going in the opposite direction rather than fixing them. We're doubling down and deepening those flaws.

BERMAN: A lot of the world sees America as blowing it on democracy right now.

Fareed Zakaria, thank you. Obviously, you can catch Fareed on "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" Sunday at 10:00 a.m.

Just ahead -- Republicans keep trying to kill the Affordable Care Act. How is that working out? A "Reality Check" next.

KEILAR: And imagine Matthew McConaughey as governor of Texas? We'll talk with another guy who says it would be perhaps a lot cooler if he did not.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [08:27:35]

BERMAN: The Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, just survived yet another Supreme Court challenge. So despite years of efforts from Republicans to get rid of it, it lives on.

John Avlon has a "Reality Check".

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: The Affordable Care Act has survived more attempts on its life than any 11-year-old law should have to endure. Yesterday, the Supreme Court may have given it a definitive reprieve by a decisive vote of 7-2.

This is the third time that the Supreme Court has ruled against Republican attempts to kill the bill. But that's modest compared to the nearly 2,000 challenges it's faced in various courts since it was passed in 2010. That's over and above the 70 times Republicans in Congress have tried to vote it out of existence.

So with all those obsessive attempts, you assume the law was really bad, hurting, not helping people. But that's not really the case. 31 million Americans receive health care through the ACA with another 1.2 million signing up starting in February. And 14.8 million newly eligible low-income folks enrolled in Medicaid expansion.

More people are insured. Preconditions are covered and the ACA has actually grown in popularity over time.

With a decade of campaigning on repeal and replace, Republicans must have offered up an alternative, right? Some signature?

Not so much. See, they are into opposition, not proposing new policies. And when you step back, the long plot to kill Obamacare offers real insight into how bipartisanship became an endangered species on Capitol Hill. First, you got to understand that partisan blinders aside, this was not some far left piece of legislation.

In fact, President Obama based his plan on an individual mandate developed by scholars at the conservative heritage foundation. And Obama resisted the single-payer system believing his more moderate plan would be more palatable to folks in Congress, given decades of failure on the health care reform front dating back to Harry Truman. After all, the ACA was similar to what was already put in place by the Republican governor of Massachusetts, one Mitt Romney.

So, that would garner bipartisan good will, right? Not even a little bit. Republicans attacked it out of the gate as a socialist big government takeover of the health care industry.

In reality, there's no such thing. The constant claim received PolitiFact coveted lie of the year. But the facts didn't seem to matter. Tea Party swept Republicans in power, beginning attempts to gut the law, even leading to a government shutdown.

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