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New Day

Today, Senate GOP to Reject Rights Bill in Showdown; Pressure Mounts on Trump Financial Chief to Cooperate; Michigan Lifts most COVID Restrictions Today, One Week Early. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 22, 2021 - 07:00   ET

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

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[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: I'm John Berman alongside Brianna Keilar on this New Day.

Senate showdown, Democrats moving forward on a voting rights bill as Republicans prepare to vote it down. The Senate's lead sponsor of the For the People Act joins us live.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN NEW DAY: And pressure building on a long-time Trump ally to cooperate with prosecutors or potentially face criminal charges himself.

BERMAN: The urgent call to get vaccinated after one hospital sees a six-fold increase in coronavirus hospitalizations.

KEILAR: And NFL history being made, the league's first active openly gay player sharing his story and pledging to help the LGBTQ community in a major way.

BERMAN: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. It is Tuesday, June 22nd.

Free and fair elections and President Biden's agenda, to a certain extent, on the line today when the Senate votes on the For the People Act. Republicans are pledging unified opposition and the measure is certain to fail without 60 votes. The question is can it get 50 Democrats.

President Biden meeting privately on Monday with two moderate Democrats who may hold the key to getting to 50 and also to the entire Biden agenda at this point, Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. As of last night, Manchin says he does not know they will vote to advance the elections overhaul bill, that's as he works to negotiate changes with fellow Democrats.

KEILAR: So if the Democrats stick together with 50 votes, and, of course, as mentioned, that's really a big if here, this could ramp up pressure on the filibuster to address not only voting rights but infrastructure and police reform as well. And joining us now is Oregon Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley. He is one of the chief authors of the For the People Act. Senator, thanks for joining us this morning.

SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-OR): Good morning. Great to be with you.

KEILAR: Do you think -- look, things are not looking great for 60 votes. Do you think that you will have all of your Democrats together?

MERKLEY: Well, I certainly hope so. Today, you can think of it as a test vote. Do we have 50 Democrats who say they're ready to debate this bill? I predict eventually we will have 50, I hope it's today and then we have to figure out how we try to recruit additional Republicans. As Joe Manchin has mentioned, he wants to have a bill that he can go out and recruit Republicans to join us. After all, these are the most fundamental American values. Every person access to ballot, billionaires can't buy elections. This is in the DNA of every American.

KEILAR: He's put forward, he's put out a compromise and actually what's been interesting is you've seen some progressive Democrats who have jumped on board with this, expanding early voting, allowing same- day and automatic registration, expanding early voting for 15 days and making the Election Day a federal holiday, but it also has this voter I.D. component, which makes it interesting that progressives are jumping on.

As you know, Republicans are not at all jumping on. Why do you think that they would, as you say you're hopeful to eventually get some Republicans, why do you think anything is going to change about where they are on this?

MERKLEY: Well, listen, it's possible a couple will join us. Do I think ten will ever join us? No. Mitch McConnell, he is in a power game, he has said that these corruptions of our system are to his advantage. He likes the dark money, the millions of dollars, the hundreds of millions of dollars in elections. He likes gerrymandering because it gives the House of Representatives an advantage for his party. He appreciates these things that are corrupting our country's elections because they help him.

So we won't get ten, but we may get a couple eventually when we work out the details of a revised bill, but the conversation is so important to America. It's really about this vision of whether power is going to flow up through the people through honest and fair elections or down from the powerful and privileged, manipulating the system. I vote for the people.

KEILAR: Who are those couple Republicans you are talking about?

MERKLEY: Well, we have traditional moderates, a certain Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and so forth. There are several that have indicated in the past that they really wanted to vote, for example, for the Disclose Act, but they didn't under pressure from Mitch McConnell. They're probably going to be searching their souls as to whether they cave in once again to this power position rather than defending the Constitution, as we are pledged to do.

[07:05:00]

KEILAR: So your Democratic colleague, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, wrote an op-ed talking about the filibuster, arguing that it shouldn't be done away with. She said, the filibuster compels moderation and helps protect the country from wild swings between opposing policy polls.

I mean, it's important to note that Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, they aren't the only Democrats who oppose doing away with the filibuster. There are others, perhaps less vocal, but what do you say to her argument there?

MERKLEY: Well, certainly, the Senate has been about a compromise or a social contract in which the majority can't just run over the top of the minority, the minority has to be heard, they can delay things in order to seek compromise, they can make sure that their ideas are put forward in amendments, but, ultimately, that they can't paralyze the institution. It is that second path of this social contract that is broken under Mitch McConnell.

And so maybe if this vision of giving the Republicans a full chance to participate is fulfilled, we will bring our colleagues together around the vision that we need to fulfill the other half of the social contract and not let Mitch McConnell allow us to devastate the vision of democracy in this country.

KEILAR: The flipside of this, if you were to get rid of the filibuster, is that the opposition, once in the majority, would be unencumbered by the filibuster as well. To that point, Kyrsten Sinema says that this would be reversed in a few years, meaning voting rights, or really any effort the Democrats put forward and she said that could be reversed by nationwide voter I.D. that's put in place. I mean, what -- that is a reality. What do you say to that and that being an acceptable countermove if you get rid of the filibuster?

MERKLEY: Well, Mitch McConnell has already gotten rid of the filibuster on his top priorities. He got rid of it on the ability to do tax cuts for the richest Americans, he got rid of it on the ability to do tax cuts for corporations, he got rid of it on the Supreme Court, he got rid of it in order to --

KEILAR: But we are talking about voting rights issues, not budgetary issues.

MERKLEY: Sure. But my point here is that nothing we do today prevents him from doing this in the future because he's already demonstrated that whenever he has a priority that he thinks is in his -- is useful to him, he will pursue it. And so us abandoning the Constitution today doesn't prevent Mitch McConnell from assaulting the Constitution tomorrow. After all, he is assaulting it right now.

But here is the thing. Ultimately, there is accountability through how people vote and if, in fact, Mitch McConnell proceeds with outrageous actions that motivate people at the polls, he won't see that in his interest.

KEILAR: And, look, it may not prevent him, I hear what you're saying, from doing it in the future, but it will guarantee that he will.

MERKLEY: Well, not at all. Because you can think about how reproductive rights have been something that his party has been very intent on, but he didn't change the rules on reproductive rights. And so let's recognize too that you're asking the question about getting rid of the filibuster, but how about if we improve the filibuster and restore this social contract.

Before 1975, those who wanted to obstruct had to show up and be present. We now have a no-show/no-effort obstruction. People think filibuster, they think it's, well, people are saying they want more debate. Well, if they want more debate, they should actually have to debate. That's a place where we could move forward and fulfill this vision perhaps in a way that 50 Democrats could support.

KEILAR: Well, I'm so glad that we could talk with you about this this morning. This is such a hot internal debate there in the Democratic Caucus and we appreciate your insight on it. Senator Jeff Merkley, thank you.

MERKLEY: Thank you, Brianna. Thanks.

BERMAN: So, with Democrats trying to pass some of the president's top agenda items before the July 4th break, including voting rights, infrastructure and police reform, some supporters, liberal supporters, fear the time might be running out to make deals. So far, the White House is downplaying those suggestions.

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JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Having lived through a lot of legislative battles himself, he knows that sometimes they take some time. The sausage-making takes some time. But to your point he does not feel the time is unlimited and he would like -- it is not weeks, in his view, in terms of moving forward and seeing if there is a bipartisan path forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. Joining us now is CNN Contributor and soon to be esteemed professor at Duke University, Frank Bruni. It's great to have you here with us.

Look, the president is still committed. He is sending some negotiators up to Capitol Hill at this moment to talk infrastructure. We he see him talking about to Joe Manchin about voting rights. There are liberals, Robert Reich, and others, who say enough with trying to do the bipartisan thing, you're making the same mistakes, Joe Biden, that Barack Obama made in 2009. What do you think about that?

FRANK BRUNI, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think we're using the wrong point of reference. I keep on hearing, yes, Obama did this and time ran out, et cetera. The point of reference is Donald Trump. I think we have to remember Joe Biden campaigned on one promise above all others, and that was to be unlike Donald Trump, to try to restore some measure of comity, to try to restore some measure of civility and try to govern for all Americans.

[07:10:08]

So I think he's doing what he must do given the promise he made to the country when he campaigned.

There will be a time when he has to say, I also made a promise to solve problems and this isn't solving problems so we have to move on, but if he doesn't go the extra mile in trying to work with Republicans and get some measure of bipartisanship, he's kind of violating the very ethos of his campaign.

KEILAR: Let's be honest too though, what they're dealing with is different. The breakdown in the Senate, he has 50 Democrats, Obama had 60, right? So it's also just very different and more divided we're seeing the country as well. You argue that Biden actually, you know, he is not really turning into a progressive. Why?

BRUNI: I don't think people change overnight. My Italian grandmother had a great phrase, born round, you don't die square. Now, I think that's a little extreme but her point is people don't change that much and people tend not to change that much in the final inning, right? I think Joe Biden realizes that he has a very divided Democratic caucus, hard to please them all. If he shoots for the stars, the left is happy. He knows he's not going to get the stars. He knows he's going to be lucky to get the moon, the center is happy. So if he loses from the mark he sets, it's a win-win.

BERMAN: Born round, also one of my top three favorite Frank Bruni books.

BRUNI: Have I written more than three?

BERMAN: That's what I'm saying. I was trying to be widely expansive there.

You in your last official op-ed for The New York Times, you wrote a sort of apology to Ted Cruz for something you had written about him before. Why?

BRUNI: Well, the apology to Ted Cruz was kind of a rhetorical device, but the column in question about Ted Cruz, and it was one of too many I wrote about Ted Cruz, you know, trafficked in a kind of snark and snideness that I don't think is the best side of op-ed columnizing or of journalism, in general. I think we are all guilty of too much of that these days. It seems to be what sells, it's what gets clicks, but it also contributes to the very dynamics that we decry, which is polarization, partisanship.

When I look back at my ten years as a regular op-ed columnist, and I will still be writing essays but just not as regularly, I wish I had been less snide more often, I wish I hadn't gone as often easy clicks. I didn't do it all the time. I'm proud of a lot of the work I did. But I do think all of us as journalists need to reexamine our tones because if we want better for the country, we can't descend to the level of everyone else's discourse. We can't answer Donald Trump's ridicule with the same measure of ridicule. That gets us nowhere.

KEILAR: It's like a measure of self-control that you have to have. You know, you say it's an apology to Ted Cruz but it's really an apology to the readers.

BRUNI: It's an apology to my readers. And there's stuff I don't feel I need to apologize for, but I could have been better and I think all of us can be better.

BERMAN: Is it possible to rein that in as a business, as a society? Once this has been unleashed -- and, actually, I don't even think in a media way. I think once it was unleashed, once Donald Trump unleashed this, how do you rein it back in?

BRUNI: Well, I mean, you try to rein it back in by modeling a better behavior. And it is tough. I mean, I'm beating up on us for what we do. We do what we do, in part, because it's what viewers, readers, voters respond to. And it becomes a chicken and egg thing, but at some point, I think somebody has to try to break the cycle.

And if we are going to consider ourselves to be the positive forces for democracy that we are, I think maybe we are the ones who should start modeling something better.

KEILAR: He's sounding downright academic, isn't he?

BERMAN: Professorial.

KEILAR: Professorial.

BRUNI: This is my professorial pivot, yes.

KEILAR: I love it. I love it.

BERMAN: Look, I have to say, there are going to be some lucky students at Duke University.

BRUNI: Very sweet.

BERMAN: Very lucky. Thank you so much for being with us. Congratulations on the big move.

BRUNI: Thank you.

A longtime Trump loyalist facing a choice, flip on his boss or face possible criminal charges. Why the Trump organization's CFO will have to decide soon.

KEILAR: And one hospital in the Midwest is seeing a surge in COVID patients from a fast-spreading COVID variant. We will have Dr. Sanjay Gupta with us to explain who is at risk here.

BERMAN: And a new book reveals where President Trump threatened to send American COVID patients to keep the national case count down.

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[07:15:00]

KEILAR: Pressure is mounting on the Trump administration's chief financial officer and he's being presented with two options, flip on the former president or face potential criminal charges of his own.

And joining us now to talk about this is CNN's Kara Scannell and Laura Jarrett. Great to see you both.

Kara, tell us what stage this criminal investigation is in.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Yes. So, Brianna, a source familiar with the investigation tells me that this is at a very advanced stage. Now, this investigation into Weisselberg is looking into whether he paid taxes on certain benefits that he received, an corporate apartment, company car and they're even tuition payments that went towards his grandchildren's school.

And a lot of this stemmed from his former daughter-in-law, Jennifer Weisselberg. She provided prosecutors with a lot of information. Her lawyer tells us that she met with them again on Friday. She has been in with them multiple times. And a source familiar with the investigation says that this is, as I said, in an advanced stage and prosecutors could make a decision on whether to charge Allen Weisselberg as soon as next month.

BERMAN: What indications do you have about which way he's leaning?

SCANNELL: I mean, it is the big question here. He's about 75 years old, he is facing this potential charge. A lot of people say that this is -- could be an aggressive charge. It's kind of rare to see people being prosecuted for not paying corporate benefits on a company car, you know, what is the dollar amount in this, how much does it add up to? But there's also the flipside of that is that, you know, he is the chief financial officer of the organization, should he have known that he should have been paying taxes on this? We don't know if he did pay some taxes, not all taxes. And there is still some information that has not come to light.

[07:20:00]

But the other calculus here is what does he have to offer prosecutors. And this investigation is very, you know, wide ranging and appears to have narrowed in recent weeks, looking at corporate benefits, was this a widespread practice at the Trump organization? We're reporting last night that they are also looking to benefits paid to another top executive, Matthew Calamari, he's the chief operating officer.

They are still digging into this here. They had Jeff McConney, the controller of the Trump organization in before the grand jury. But Weisselberg is someone that if he had information that he was willing to provide, he could help explain to them, you know, why certain decisions were made, the intent behind certain decisions, and that's key in a criminal case.

BERMAN: So, Counselor, what do you think, as Weisselberg sitting there?

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Two words for you, Michael Cohen. Everyone said that man would never flip on his boss, right? We all said he is so loyal, he will never turn against him. But when you are facing serious prison time, sometimes your incentives change.

And remember all the investigation we saw, all the reporting about the taxi medallion scheme with Michael Cohen, the whole idea is that prosecutors used shady personal finances to squeeze someone enough to say, hey, look, we know you have all of this going on here, help us out, maybe we make all of that go away.

Now, do we know that that's what's happening with Weisselberg? To be clear, we do not. We don't know what we don't know, as Kara always says. But the question here is whether they can use something as leverage to make Weisselberg feel like he has no other choice here.

And, as Kara also pointed out, we know Trump does not use email, right? And this case may very well come down to his state of mind, his intent. Weisselberg is someone who can speak to that. And one data point I think that is really interesting that went along with your reporting sort of hand in hand is we know Weisselberg is still going into work every day. He's going at the same time that Trump is there. Are you really going into work every day when you are about to flip on your boss? I mean, talk about awkward.

KEILAR: Wouldn't it be weird if he didn't go into work though?

GARRETT: Yes. And it appears that The Washington Post has some sort of stakeout because they're seeing his car go in and out, they're seeing him come out of his apartment. So, again, we will see what happens here, but I think they're certainly trying to pressure Weisselberg. They did not go all the way to the Supreme Court for Donald Trump's taxes to take down Allen Weisselberg. They just didn't.

KEILAR: He would be a stepping stone to something else. Thank you, guys, so much, Laura and Kara, great reporting.

Ahead of schedule, Michigan is fully reopening today. This is happening a week earlier than expected. And Governor Gretchen Whitmer will join us next.

A new warning about the delta coronavirus variant, could it disrupt the U.S. reopening?

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[07:25:00]

BERMAN: New this morning, the state of Michigan has just lifted almost all of its remaining coronavirus restrictions and it's coming one week earlier than planned. Michigan's case count has plummeted just two months after being the epicenter of the pandemic in the country.

Joining us now is Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer. Governor, thanks so much for being with us. Why are you doing this early?

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): Well, there's no question that our case numbers have plummeted, our hospitalizations, our mortality rates, our vaccinations are upwards of 61.2 percent, so we're really hitting this virus on a lot of fronts and we are in a stronger position now and we thought it made sense to move forward. So it's an exciting moment after a long tough year for every one of us.

BERMAN: No question you are trending in the right direction but you had said that the fuller reopening, which you're doing now, wouldn't happen until you reach 70 percent of adults getting one dose. You are not there. You're just over 61 percent now.

WHITMER: Yes, we're not there. Like a lot of states, we see it trickling, right? We're still doing vaccinations, we're meeting people where they are. I have not gotten a lot of help out of my legislature in terms of make sure that we have got the strongest program that's fully supported and fully endorsed. But we're making great strides and we are in a much stronger position than a lot of other states. We'e going to continue working on that front, meet people where they are, make it easier and easier for people to get vaccinated.

And for those of you Americans who are watching who have not yet gotten vaccinated, I know that there are a lot of people that have questions and we're working really hard to make sure that people get their questions answered so they know this vaccine is the best way to stay safe, to stay reengaged, to ensure that you're protected from delta variants that are spreading quickly all across the globe and this is a really important metric, but we have made a lot of progress, we're going to keep working at it.

BERMAN: Look, it's changed my life. I can tell you that right now. I'm sitting two feet away from Brianna Keilar now and I think that's wonderful. But my question is you do acknowledge you've moved the bar. I mean, the bar before was 70 percent. Now the bar is not, you are at 61 percent.

WHITMER: Like so many things since coronavirus came to the United States, we've had to be nimble, we've followed the science, we've paid attention to the data. We know that people are still getting vaccinated and we have work yet to do on that front. But it was important to recognize that because the case rates are so low right now, we've got an opportunity to drop a lot of these mandates that we have all had to abide by so people can feel the freedom that comes with 61 percent of our population getting vaccinated. When we get to 70 percent, we will all be much safer.

BERMAN: I want to ask you about the state of politics in your state. Look, it's tough to run for office in Michigan, always has been probably always will be, but I want to read a paragraph. This is something that NBC News did reporting on last week. And it has jumped out at me as being a little bit ah-ha. So, in March, Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ron Wiser called Whitmer, you, and two other top female leaders in state government witches who should be burning at the stake. His co-chair helped organize buses to Washington, D.C. on January 6th and spoke at a rally there before Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. She also recently suggested that Michigan secede from the U.S. Brexit-style. What does it tell you that this is what the Republican Party, to a large extent, has become in your state?

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WHITMER: Well, I think it's really surprising to so many people, including family members of my own who used to, you know, proudly be moderate members of the GOP.