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9 Children Killed in Fiery, Multi-Vehicle Crash on Highway; Tornadoes Reported from Alabama to Chicago; Campaign Volunteer for NYC Mayoral Candidate Stabbed; Subpoena that Netted Info on 2 Lawmakers Started as Probe of Congressional Staffer; Fauci Goes on Offensive Against 'Craziness' of Attacks; Vaccinated Republicans Going Out More than Vaccinated Dems; Judge Rules Against Vaccine Requirements on Cruise Ships. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired June 21, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman with Brianna Keilar. On this NEW DAY, ten people killed in a horrific chain-reaction crash in Alabama. Most of the victims young children.

[05:59:56]

Plus Dr. Anthony Fauci firing back at critics and people who question science.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And new data suggesting how you vote could determine how you spend your post-pandemic summer. And a staffing shortage forcing one major airline to cancel hundreds of upcoming flights.

BERMAN: Good morning to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. It is Monday, June 21. Happy summer.

We do begin with the aftermath of a horrific chain-reaction crash on a highway in Alabama that left ten people dead, nine of them children. The youngest victim, just nine months old.

Images of the crash on Interstate 65 reveal just how awful it really was. Look at that. Eight of the victims were traveling in a van from a home for abused and neglected young girls.

KEILAR: They were heading back from a beach vacation and just a couple of hours from home when this crash occurred in Butler County. A team of federal investigators is on the scene.

CNN's Martin Savidge is live in Camp Hill, Alabama, with the latest. This is, to echo John Berman there, horrific. There's no other word for it, Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, there isn't, Brianna. Good morning to you.

We're at the Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch, which is where most of the victims were either from or connected to. First responders that showed up to this accident say it was the worst they'd ever seen in their careers. The real heroes here are the passersby or those even caught up in the wreck that tried to do what they could. Regular people doing extraordinary things to try to save lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Federal investigators are analyzing the scene of the fatal multi-vehicle crash that killed 10 people, including nine children in Alabama. The accident happening on interstate highway I-65 Saturday afternoon.

DANNY BOND, BUTLER COUNTY, ALABAMA, SHERIFF (via phone): This is probably the most horrific accident that I've ever seen.

SAVIDGE: At least 17 vehicles were involved in the collision. The horrifying images showing some cars ignited into flames.

According to the coroner, severe storms that hit the region Saturday could have played a role in the fatal crash. Among the victims, 29- year-old Cody Fox and his 9-month-old daughter.

Fox, who worked for the Marion County Emergency Management Agency in Tennessee, remembered by his EMA coworkers on Facebook for his upbeat attitude, his willingness to learn, and for being "a dedicated responder of good son, a good brother, a good father, and a good friend."

Eight children between the ages of 4 and 18 were also killed while riding together in a van from a girls ranch for neglected or abused youth from a trip to the beach. The sole survivor from that vehicle was the driver and the director of ranch life from the Tallapoosa Girls Ranch who, we're told, lost two of her own children in the tragedy.

MICHAEL SMITH, CEO, ALABAMA SHERIFF'S YOUTH RANCHES: We lost eight young people that can make a difference in our world. We lost eight young people that didn't have a chance to have their own children. We lost eight young people that can't break the cycle of where they've been and change it for their children. That's a sad day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: It is going to be an unbearably difficult week for the members of the Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch here. They now have eight funerals that they have to prepare for. And to cover the cost, a GoFundMe account has been started in the camp, the ranch's name.

But they know that what they need most are people's prayers -- Brianna.

KEILAR: I think they will get help on many levels there. Martin, thank you so much. Martin Savidge for us in Camp Hill, Alabama.

BERMAN: That is just devastating. At least 20 people injured by a tornado in Alabama, with Claudette, a

storm, regaining strength as a tropical storm. Tornadoes reported in Chicago area overnight, as well. There were some minor injuries and damage to some homes there.

Let's get to meteorologist Chad Myers for the very latest -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: John, over a dozen tornados we know of right now. The number is at 12, but they're still counting. Lots of severe weather, lots of hail, lots of lightning. And it's still lightning out there right now.

Things are going to get, again, bumpy this afternoon. We are going to see severe weather charge across the Eastern part of the country. We will also see Claudette making some wind for parts of North Carolina. That's where we are right now.

There's the lightning. It's still coming down. And it's going to get even more intense as the day goes on. Claudette, a 40-mile-per-hour storm. It will get in the ocean, and it will make a run at -- kind of swipe at Nova Scotia.

But for now, this is the weather we're worried about. A front that's going to come down. Going to light up the sky with an awful lot of lightning and move you ahead to the afternoon.

Not yet but then all of a sudden, you see all of the bright colors by later on today right across the Deep South. Scraping, kind of a break across the South with one storm maybe only 20 miles per hour as they move across the southern part of the country.

[06:05:10]

So there is your deadly weekend right there. There's your recap. It wasn't pretty -- John.

BERMAN: All right, Chad. We will be watching that throughout the day. Thank you very much.

So New Yorkers go to the polls tomorrow to vote in this fiercely- contested Democratic primary for mayor. The No. 1 issue really has become crime. And over the weekend, strict crime -- street crime hit close to home for frontrunner Eric Adams when one of his campaign volunteers was stabbed with an ice pick.

Joining us now is CNN political analyst Maggie Haberman. She's a Washington correspondent for "The New York Times." This -- this campaign workers is expected to survive, Maggie.

But you know, this race is seen as an inflection point here in New York City. And crime really has become the driving issue. So there is some poignance to this is how the whole campaign is wrapping up.

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think that's right, John. Look, I think, obviously, this incident is terrible. What happened allowing Eric Adams to try to focus attention on what has been the No. 1 issue for several weeks now as New York City has emerged from the pandemic. Not all crimes up, but shootings are up, most notably. And I think that that is something that you have seen a lot of candidates, particularly Andrew Yang at the very beginning, over the last couple of weeks, as the race moved into this new phase.

Talking about whether one particular candidate has the edge remains to be seen. But there is this split between the candidates who are seen as in the more moderate lane of this primary.

And again, this is a New York City Democratic race, so most of the candidates are pretty aggressive. But there are a handful who do not support the defend the police language that has existed among Democrats over the course of the last year. Then there are others, further on the left, who had been advocating at least for some of that language. So we'll see who actually wins this very crowded and very complicated race tomorrow.

KEILAR: Which is kind of starting to look like "Survivor: New York Mayor." Because here you've got Andrew Yang and Kathryn Garcia, Maggie, two of the leading candidates, forming a late alliance that Eric Adams portrayed as racially motivated. Tell us what's going on here?

HABERMAN: Sure. Brianna, New York City is having not just its first June mayoral primary, which raises all kinds of questions about what turnout's going to look like, there's the first rank choice primaries. So voters have the option, and they don't have to. They have the option of ranking the candidates from one through five. The person who gets the most votes overall ends up winning. The idea is to try to avoid a run-off.

This has generally been seen by people who push for it, albeit it's a complicated way of voting and people have had get instructed on it. But the idea behind it was supposed to be seen as a reform in elections.

Eric Adams is trying to portray something that took place in broad daylight, both between Andrew Yang and Kathryn Garcia, in terms of forming an alliance to try to get each other's second-choice voters to back the other. He's painting this as some kind of a backroom deal. That is not what this is.

His allies were also using the language of national Democrats about some of the Republican voting restrictions, which is voter suppression. Adams also said that this is being done to, quote unquote, "stop" -- and I'm paraphrasing a part of this, but to stop a person of color from running for mayor.

If Eric Adams won, if Maya Wiley wins, that would be the first time since 1989 that there has been a black citywide official elected mayor.

Andrew Yang is a person of color. And so there is great offense taken by people around him that this was said. But it speaks, Brianna, to the nasty tone this race has taken in the final days. BERMAN: It just shows that, basically, election day is tomorrow.

That's what I think it shows more than anything else.

Maggie, there's new details this morning on the Trump Justice Department going after the records or obtaining, I should say, the records of two Democratic lawmakers. Because the new reporting from CNN is that the subpoena that swept up those records, it was a result of a leak investigation into people they were talking to, potentially congressional staffers and not an investigation into the lawmakers themselves. So how important is that distinction?

HABERMAN: Well, John, there is a lot we don't know about these subpoenas still. It is -- either way, I do think it is of note that it's worth the public understanding that this is how, or one of the ways in which the Department of Justice collects information, conducts subpoenas.

But there has been a perception that Trump has been after directly Don McGahn's records, which would be, you know, extraordinary. It was the White House's counsel at the time that this took place. There is this suggestion that perhaps that is not what happened. Perhaps he was swept up in an investigation of someone else.

I would just make the point that even if that's true, the investigation of the someone else in this case was a staffer, a Democratic staffer, it seems, for a House committee that itself was investigating the former president.

So it is a gradation of the same thing. But again, I think that there is so much more to be learned about not just how these subpoenas were conducted but were there any more. And I assume we will learn this in the coming months.

[06:10:09]

KEILAR: Yes, we're certainly awaiting that. Right? To see if there are any more.

I want to ask you about hearing from Dr. Anthony Fauci. He appeared in a podcast with Kara Swisher (ph). He's defending himself against people who are attacking him. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: People who are giving the ad hominems are saying, 'Ah, Fauci misled us. First he said no masks, then he said masks.'

Well, let me give you a flash. That's the way science works. You work with the data you have at the time. It is essential, as a scientist, that you evolve your opinion and your recommendations based on the data as it evolves. That is the nature of science. It is a self- correcting process.

And that's the reason why I say people who then criticized me about that are actually criticizing science. It was not a change because I felt like flip-flopping. It was a change because the evidence changed, the data changed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I wonder what you think about this. You know, we've heard him address the criticism before, but this might be the most clear terms in which he's addressed the criticism over his initial comments on masks.

HABERMAN: I do think that this was a more direct response, Brianna. But I think there's two separate issues. I think that, A, none of us is about criticism, and that includes Dr. Fauci. I think that there are legitimate criticisms and concerns that people have about why and how his statements about mask wearing changed.

He -- I think there is an argument to be made that he could have been clearer about what -- what the science was, what scientific basis he was making that change on. I think that there has also been questions about whether the public health officials in the Trump administration were overly reliant on data about a symptom -- believing there was not a symptomatic spread, that this was more of a flu-like virus.

And that's separate from the ad hominems he's getting, which have generally really been, you know, very personal and very directing and going to a very different area, and the threats on his life, and the things that have been said about him, more broadly about character. That's different.

And so these are -- these are two separate issues. Again, I do think that he is going to continue to get pressed to explain sort of why he made a statements he made in real time about masks. And I think there are aspects of that that are fair. But this has gone in a very, very vitriolic direction when it comes to him, and I think that's really where the problem lies.

BERMAN: He talks about both, actually. And later in the broadcast, we'll have Kara Swisher on, who did that podcast where to place some of that sound, where people, you know, Fauci talks about people comparing him to Hitler. So really, both aspects of this are things that he addresses there. It is very interesting. Maggie, great to see you this morning. Thanks so much.

HABERMAN: And you.

BERMAN: So a major ruling in the fight between Florida's governor and the CDC. Will it mean the start of cruises again for the first time in more than a year? Plus, why one major air carrier is scrapping hundreds of flights in the coming weeks.

KEILAR: And whether you're taking a vacation or not, new data showing a partisan divide in how people plan to spend their summer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:30]

KEILAR: The U.S. extending coronavirus restrictions on non-essential travel to Canada and Mexico for another month. The Department of Homeland Security says land borders and ferry crossings with the two countries will remain closed until July 21.

This announcement coming just after Canada extended its own COVID-19 restrictions on overseas and U.S. travel that were set to expire today.

Officials say the White House is working with both Canada and Mexico to identify the conditions under which restrictions can be eased safely and sustainably.

BERMAN: We have some new vaccination numbers coming in. Fifteen states plus Washington, D.C., have now fully vaccinated more than half their residents. Nearly 150 million Americans -- that's 45 percent of the population -- now fully vaccinated. Fifty-three percent of the population has received at least one dose. That involves people younger than 17 to 12 years old.

We now have information this morning about how this is affecting people's behavior.

Joining us now, CNN's senior political writer and analyst, Harry Enten.

Harry, we have a sense of how people are behaving, once vaccinated, by party breakdown. And it's interesting.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: It is. Right? And so essentially, what we see here, so have you in the last week, among fully vaccinated, socially distanced? Fifty-one percent of Democrats who are already fully vaccinated said, yes, they socially distanced. Look at this. Just 31 percent of Republicans say the same thing.

Always wear a mask outside of the house. Look, 48 percent of Democrats who are fully vaccinated say they have, but just 20 percent of Republicans say they have. So even among the fully vaccinated, what we're seeing is that partisan split, Democrats being much more cautious than Republicans are.

BERMAN: In terms of activities that they are engaging in, what are we learning there?

ENTEN: It's the same thing, the same story. So have you, in the last week, among the fully vaccinated, gone out to eat. Just 54 percent of Democrats said that they've gone out to eat. Seventy-four percent of Republicans.

Made summer plans in the last week. Look at this: just 34 percent of Democrats, 45 percent of Republicans.

So even among those who are fully vaccinated, what we see is Democrats are playing it far more safely than Republicans. I guess Republicans would argue that Democrats are actually playing it a little bit too safe. BERMAN: You were telling me last week that Democrats are starting to

do things at a quicker rate than Republicans are. They're growing faster than Republicans. Yes?

ENTEN: That -- that is true. Democrats are starting to catch up to Republicans. What's really true is fully vaccinated people are starting to catch up to those who are unvaccinated. But again, here you see Democrats being far more cautious.

[06:25:03]

BERMAN: Well, you have information about the unvaccinated. And these numbers blow me away, Harry.

ENTEN: Right. So you know, look, if you're fully vaccinated, go out and enjoy your life. But if you're not fully vaccinated, you probably should be taking it far more cautiously.

But look at here. Have you, in the last week -- among the non- vaccinated, now look at this -- socially distanced? Seventy-three percent of Democrats have said, yes, they socially distanced. That's a good thing if you're not fully vaccinated. But just 17 percent of Republicans say that they have.

And always wear a mask outside of your house. You'd hope that in a lot of circumstances you would. Most Democrats are, 62 percent. But among Republicans, it's just 25 percent among non-vaccinated Republicans are always wearing a mask outside their house.

BERMAN: It's -- Republicans who are unvaccinated, they're not doing a thing. They're not doing a thing to help in terms of getting past this pandemic. They're putting themselves at great risk.

ENTEN: That's exactly right. And Republicans who are not vaccinated are pretty much acting the same way that fully-vaccinated Republicans are, versus among Democrats. Unvaccinated Democrats are acting a lot more cautiously than fully vaccinated Democrats are.

BERMAN: And this, by party breakdown, is the case, no matter how concerned you are about getting coronavirus. Right?

ENTEN: That's exactly right. So received one dose of the vaccine, right? Have you received one dose of the vaccine? Among those who are at least somewhat concerned about the coronavirus. Among Democrats, 82 percent of those folks received at least one dose versus just 64 percent of Republicans who are at least somewhat concerned have received at least one dose.

Among those who are not concerned about the virus at all, just 69 percent of Democrats.

BERMAN: Which is still a high number.

ENTEN: Which is still a high number and considerably higher than it is among Republicans. So that even when you control for how worried you are about the virus, Democrats are far more likely to receive a vaccine dose than Republicans are.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, fascinating to see how influential party breakdown can be, even in something like public health.

ENTEN: Exactly that.

BERMAN: Brianna.

KEILAR: A federal judge is issuing an injunction against the CDC's conditional sailing order for cruise lines, saying that it likely constitutes an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power.

Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, whose state filed the motion, is making a victory lap, saying in a statement the CDC has been wrong all along, and they knew it.

Joining us now is Dr. Leana Wen, who is a CNN medical analyst and former Baltimore City health commissioner.

Dr. Wen, great to see you this morning. He says they were wrong all along. Were they wrong all along, the CDC here?

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Actually, I think the CDC was trying to protect the health of Americans.

In this case, we have to recognize that there are unique circumstances involved in being on a cruise ship; that these are very crowded indoor settings with a lot of people for a long period of time. That's exactly the conditions for spreading COVID-19, which is why, early in the pandemic, these ships became, literally, floating Petri dishes.

And so I think the CDC was trying to do the right thing by imposing requirements. And the most important requirement, I think, is having proof of vaccination. And we've seen also that there are passengers on board these cruise ships, or potential passengers on board these cruise ships. Eighty percent in various polls have said that they want to be on an all-vaccinated cruise.

So in a sense, this is not just about requirements from a federal agency. It's actually about catering to what the passengers, what the customers themselves want to do, which is to have a good time but also to be safe at the same time.

KEILAR: So this ruling doesn't say that the CDC was wrong. It says they don't have the jurisdiction, really, to put this in place.

If cruise ships still have latitude here, what should these cruise ship lines that actually were not siding with Governor DeSantis, what should they do?

WEN: Yes, that's right. So the federal judge said that the CDC has until July 2 to propose another set of guidelines that may be a bit more lax than what they have done so far.

But we've also seen that the cruise ship industry themselves have voluntarily put forward some requirements. For example, a lot of cruise operators have said that they want to have a vaccination requirement.

The only issue is you've got states like Florida that have said that they do not allow for cruises that go into Florida or that start from Florida to have a proof of vaccination that's required.

And so what we've seen, for example, with the Royal Caribbean, what they've said is that we will have proof of vaccination, and if you don't have vaccination for whatever reason, there is a way for you to also be part of these cruises.

But it's more restrictive. For example, testing is required beforehand. You have to pay for testing. And in addition, you also may be restricted in the types of activities that you can go to. There are shows that only vaccinated people can attend, or dining hours only for those who are vaccinated. Or you still even have to wear masks indoors if you are unvaccinated.

So I think that may be something that cruise ships can do themselves to say, OK, ideally we have proof of vaccination. But if we don't, there is an opt-out.

[06:25:07]

But, that means that you are much more restricted of what you can do if you are unvaccinated out of concern for the health and safety for the others.

KEILAR: So this guidance was -- practically everyone needed to be vaccinated. What is the ratio that you think of vaccinated to unvaccinated that can still keep passengers on the cruise ships safe?

WEN: Frankly, at this point we really should have 100 percent of people with proof of vaccination. We are talking about people in close quarters here. And we saw how much COVID-19 can spread like wildfire in these types of crowded settlings when people are interacting with one another without masks or distancing.

Which, by the way, is something that the passengers really want. They want to be -- they want to have a normal pre-pandemic experience. And they can do that if there is proof of vaccination.

I think having an opt-out, for example, having required testing or quarantine period is another way to do things. But it's not going to be as good as proof of vaccination.

And I think at the end of the day, these cruise ship operators have to decide for themselves, who are they catering to? Are they catering to the 80 percent that want proof of vaccination and would feel much more comfortable doing so, especially if they are elderly and immuno- compromised. Or are they catering to the less than 20 percent who, for whatever reason, don't want the vaccine requirement.

KEILAR: Yes. We're going to see -- it will be, perhaps, a bit of a floating experiment this summer as cruises get underway. Dr. Leana Wen, thank you.

WEN: Thank you.

KEILAR: Brazil has passed a grim COVID milestone: 500,000 total deaths. Why the crisis is hitting children particularly hard.

BERMAN: And a St. Louis couple showing off their new gun purchase one year after the infamous scene during a Black Lives Matter protest.

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