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New Day

High-Rise Building Partially Collapses in South Florida; Critical Day for Biden's Agenda on Infrastructure, Policing; Biden, FBI Chief Warn of Summer Crime Surge; Top U.S. General Hits Back at GOP Criticism of Diversity Efforts. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired June 24, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I'm Brianna Keilar alongside John Berman on this NEW DAY.

[05:59:21]

We do have some breaking news. An apartment building collapsing near Miami. There are reports of people trapped as crews race to save survivors.

Plus, a critical day for the fate of President Biden's agenda. There is talk of fragile deals on both infrastructure and police reform.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Pentagon officials dressing down Republican lawmakers to their faces. Why the military's top officer calls it offensive after being called "too woke."

And a stunning turn in the conservatorship drama involving Britney Spears. Why the pop star compared her father to a sex trafficker and what she says they forced her to do.

KEILAR: A very good morning to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. It is Thursday, June 24, and we are beginning with some breaking news here.

There is a massive search-and-rescue operation under way right now in south Florida, after a high-rise building partially collapsed in the city of Surfside. So this is near Miami Beach.

Emergency crews right now are sifting through huge piles of rubble.

BERMAN: We're following reports that people may still be trapped in the debris. I guess the collapse happened about 2 a.m. You would think people would be inside sleeping.

Dozens of rescue units from the Miami-Dade area are now on the scene. Our Leyla Santiago is live on the scene right now.

Leyla, what can you tell us about what's going on there?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are just north of Miami Beach. This is an upscale beach community with a mixture of old and new buildings, just to kind of give you an idea of the area. But I want to show you behind me, you can actually see in the neighboring buildings that rescue crews are on balconies. We see flash lights. So we think they're inside, as well, checking and searching the neighboring building.

Now, this large building that you are seeing is the neighboring building. So the collapse, the partial collapse happened just behind that building, where we still see search-and-rescue teams working hours after this collapse.

I can tell you that there are more than 80 rescue teams that responded. As I was driving in this morning, the streets were blocked off quite a large radius around the area.

I want you to listen to what one property owner said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLY GOMEZ, PROPERTY OWNER: There's got to be people in those -- that were -- that were there in these units. I mean, it's like what's going on? I don't know if people were able to get out or heard something or what, but it's -- man, I just hope people were not in there, people were out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANTIAGO: So the big question, who was inside? If there was anyone inside, how many injuries and/or casualties? We are still working to get that information.

But from where we stand, what is so sort of shocking is the response to it and the rubble that now is left behind there. I mean, there's a lot of debris in the area of where this building was.

This building comes up as a condo building, and we're still also trying to figure out sort of the history of it and see what may have led to this collapse -- John.

BERMAN: Why did it collapse? How many people were inside? How much of the building is now simply rubble? All of this coming to light as the sun comes up there.

Leyla, I know you're on the scene. You'll keep us posted as we get new developments. Thank you very much.

KEILAR: We're turning now to infrastructure, where a deal has been reached on Capitol Hill.

Here in just hours, a bipartisan group of senators is going to meet with President Biden to talk about this deal, after announcing that they've reached a tentative agreement with the White House, and this includes how to pay for it.

So this is a big breakthrough on one of the president's biggest policy objectives, though of course, there are hurdles. There are potential land mines that linger. Let's talk about that with Lauren Fox, who is joining us now, live

from Capitol Hill.

This is good news, but it's tentative.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Brianna.

I mean, this is a deal reached in principle, of course. They have to sell it to the president of the United States. He would ultimately be the one who has to sign it.

But White House negotiators yesterday were part of this discussion with the bipartisan group. If you remember, they've held several meetings over the last several days with this group of bipartisan lawmakers, trying to find some kind of consensus on how to get an infrastructure deal.

And what the big holdup had been was how to pay for that. Now one of the sticking points had been over COVID relief funds, as well as issues over how much it would actually raise if you went after people who had not been paying their taxes.

Those issues seem like they have been resolved at this point, and so I think that one of the key things to keep watching is how the rest of the Senate reacts to this deal.

Remember, these are ten lawmakers in a room with White House negotiation -- negotiators. This does not represent the broad swathe of Democrats or the broad swathe of Republicans. We still have to see whether or not they can sell this proposal to their colleagues.

And we don't have all the details yet of how they want to finance this payment. You know, one thing we do know is it's about $1.2 trillion, $579 billion in new spending.

But there are new questions about whether or not progressive Democrats will be willing to support this bipartisan deal if they get some kind of assurance that moderates will back a Democratic-only proposal coming around the same time.

[06:05:13]

Leaders also met last night with White House officials to kind of game out exactly what this will look like moving forward. And there is a commitment to do this on two tracks: to pursue this bipartisan effort, as well as reconciliation, that effort that allows Democrats to pass another infrastructure bill with just Democratic votes.

There's still a lot of moving pieces here, but certainly, a breakthrough last night in getting this tentative deal, Brianna.

KEILAR: Today is also a critical day for the bipartisan effort to pass police reform. Tell us where that stands.

FOX: If you remember, Brianna, Tim Scott, the leading Republican negotiator -- negotiator, said this was June or bust. But remember, today is the last day of the Senate session in the month of June. They want to get an agreement in principle.

And depending on who you ask, they're getting closer, but do they actually get there in the next 12 or so hours? I think that's the big question.

If you asked Democrats yesterday, they said that they still need to get this language on paper. And these details are really important. You can really go back and forth for a long time about what the language specifically should be, even if you have a general idea of where both sides want to go.

And I think that's the key sticking point here, is can they get an agreement on paper in the next 12 hours? We still don't know the answer to that, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Lauren Fox, live from Capitol Hill, thank you.

There's some disturbing new video of the insurrection as a judge issues the first sentence for a Capitol rioter, which some are calling a slap on the wrist.

BERMAN: Plus, Britney Spears stuns in court, saying that she doesn't have control over her own body and demanding an end to her father's conservatorship.

And military leaders scold Republicans to their face after accused of being "too woke" for focusing on diversity.

It gets really --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[06:11:12]

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Folks, this shouldn't be a red or blue issue. It's an American issue. We're not changing the Constitution. We're enforcing it, being reasonable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: President Biden there talking about the nationwide surge in violent crime and homicide, announcing a plan aimed at getting illegal guns off the streets and increasing resources for police departments and communities affected by this.

Let's bring in Darren Porter, retired New York Police Department lieutenant and criminal justice expert. And Christina Greer, politics editor for "TheGrio" and Fordham University political science professor.

Lieutenant, I want to start with you there, because what President Biden did, in a way, was take a step back and say we have to be able to talk about all this and address all this. We have to be able to say yes, there's a disturbing rise in violent crime over the last year or two, but yes, we can also talk about police reform at the same time.

So talk to me about how you think he's addressing the crime part of that.

DARRIN PORCHER, RETIRED NYPD LIEUTENANT: Well, when you look at the meteoric rise, more specific to gun violence, something needed to be done. He's at a deciduous stage in his presidency.

However, it's necessary when we look at the trajectory of gun violence flying our United States, something needs to happen and needs to happen now.

One of the things that I commend him for doing is he was willing to enact funds from the America -- from the America, the $350 billion that was going to America. And I thought that that was a great thing. Because it now focuses on hiring additional officers.

In addition to that spotlighting how ATF -- Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms -- can assist in the local municipalities in connection with targeting gun dealers that are illegally selling firearms, more so specific to straw purchases. And I think that that's a tremendous piece.

In addition to that, just based on my experiences being a prior NYPD lieutenant, we did something we refer to as proffer agreements, whereas we arrested people on a low level, and then we climbed the ladder to get to the big fish. And I think that that's the enhancement stage that the president is focusing on.

KEILAR: He is taking this money, right, from -- that was initially for COVID relief, but there are these funds, and shifting it -- that's the idea -- towards police departments, to local police departments.

He is also, Christina, talking about police reform. I wonder what you think of this complete picture of what he's doing.

CHRISTINA GREER, POLITICS EDITOR, "THEGRIO": Yes, it's a hard needle to thread, because a lot of communities feel like we can't police our way into safety. And so they fundamentally disagree with adding more police.

They would say take this money and put it towards social services. Take it to put it towards the mentally ill or housing and education, and that way, we can build up and support communities. And we won't need as many police, because if you have a hammer, then everything looks like a nail.

So this is where it's quite complex, because as we emerge from COVID, we know that the literature tells us in the summertime, crime does tend to spike, because we're out and about. It's hot. We know with the rising unemployment, obviously crime spikes, as well.

So we have to, as Darren says, we have to get crime under control in cities. But how we do it is the complex piece with Biden, because so many people feel like the money allocated to more policing is actually not the road that we need to go down.

BERMAN: How important is it to be able to explain why there's been this rise in crime over the last two years?

GREER: Well, I mean, it's a myriad of factors, right? We know the literature tells us, obviously, unemployment is a direct correlation to increases in crime.

I think a lot of parents should be concerned, because we focus a lot on city crime and what's going on in the summer. But we know that, you know, once students go back to school, sadly, we cannot go back to, you know, a mass shooting at our public schools every single day, which is what we saw pre-COVID.

[06:15:04]

So this is the complex issue that I think mayors and folks in Washington and Joe Biden are trying to figure out, because we have so many legal and illegal guns on the streets that are in the wrong hands of so many people.

But how do police departments sort of tackle that in a comprehensive way, because so many folks argue we can't just keep money -- keep giving money towards policing; because it's clearly not working. So how do we figure out where to allocate those resources in a more holistic fashion so we can get this under control?

KEILAR: How do you see that when you're looking at the root cause of where this violence could be coming from. And COVID plays a part in that. We know that. People have gone through such hardship when it comes to mental health, economic, social stressors.

How -- how do you look at that, the root cause how this is impacting crime?

PORCHER: The root causes in many instances are socioeconomics. Socioeconomics are the -- I want to say the point that we need to focus on.

We need to employ greater resources in these -- in these socioeconomically impoverished communities. So it's not just policing, but there are other additives, such as --

KEILAR: What does that -- what does that --

PORCHER: -- afterschool programs --

KEILAR: OK.

PORCHER: -- such as afterschool programs, assistance for the mentally ill. And these are issues that have gone overlooked for years on end.

And so I'm a strong proponent in pairing police with social workers and other mechanisms within government to assist in the process, because it's not just an enforcement aspect, but it's multifaceted. And that's what we need to approach this from. Because oftentimes, we looked at law enforcement as the component that we get it done, and it just hasn't worked. And as we revolutionize as a society, we need to understand and study history, because history will rear its ugly head if you don't pay attention to it.

Therefore, it's very important for you to understand what's happened in history in the past that hasn't worked, so you can retool and go in the appropriate direction.

BERMAN: As I understand, the money that President Biden is saying should be used on law enforcement isn't just necessarily in hiring more police. It is, I think he says, you can use it for other programs that you think may help mitigate some of the crime there. We'll see how cities decide.

Can I ask a question? I don't know. Was Bill Bratton your commissioner when you were an officer?

PORCHER: He was for a brief period of time.

BERMAN: He was with us two days ago, and one of the things he suggested is that there's been a shift in policing, in his mind, from proactive to reactive. That where we are right now, he says, police are being forced to be only reactive, whereas before they were proactive. What do you think about that?

PORCHER: That's absolutely true. We need to have a more proactive perspective in policing, but you also want to marry that into technological innovations. It's not just having the officer go out and engage with the public, but we want to use more camera systems. Shot spotter -- that's a technology whereas, when a shot is fired, the police would automatically be deployed.

It's no longer just having that officer on the corner, but you can have that proactive perspective by marrying the technological innovations, because we as a society are moving in that direction.

The average person is photographed approximately 100 to 200 times a day in a place like New York City. We can capture that information and provide it to law enforcement, not from an enforcement perspective but just to allow us a better understanding as to what's happening. What is the temperament in that community? Therefore, we can address it accordingly.

BERMAN: Thank you guys both so much for being with us. Look, this is --

GREER: Yes.

BERMAN: This only scratches the surface. This is a discussion we're going to be having all summer and for some time to come. So thanks so much for being with us today.

PORCHER: Thanks.

BERMAN: All right. We are following breaking news out of Miami, where a high-rise building has partially collapsed. There are the images right now. You can see the pile of rubble. This collapsed at about 2 a.m., so you imagine the concerns about people being trapped inside.

KEILAR: Plus, top military brass dressing down a GOP lawmaker after he accuses the military of being "too woke."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS: I want to understand white rage, and I'm white. And I want to understand it. So what is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America? What caused that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:23:36]

BERMAN: Top Pentagon leaders firing back at Republican members of Congress, questioning the Defense Department's diversity efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): How should the Department of Defense think about critical race theory?

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Here in -- with the department, we do not teach critical race theory. We don't embrace critical race theory. And I think -- I think that's a spurious conversation.

And so we are focused on extremist behaviors and not -- not ideology, not -- not people's thoughts, not people's political orientation. Behaviors is what we're focused on.

And one final point, and thanks for your anecdotal input, but I would say that I have gotten 10 times that amount of input, 50 times that amount of input on the other side that have said, hey, we're glad to have had the ability to have a conversation with ourselves and with our leadership.

REP. CHRISSY HOULAHAN (D-PA): I would like to yield some of my time to General Milley, because I know that he had some comments that he wanted to make when Representative Gaetz was talking, as well as Mr. Waltz, about a similar subject of the standdown in race theory.

Would you like a minute or so to comment on that? Do you remember what we were -- what your line of questioning or thought was there?

MILLEY: Sure. First of all, on the issue of critical race theory, et cetera, I'll obviously have to get much smarter on whatever the theory is.

[06:25:07] But I do think it's important, actually, for those of us in uniform to be open-minded and widely read. And the United States Military Academy is a university. And it is important that we train, and we understand.

And I want to understand white rage, and I'm white. And I want to understand it. So what is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America? What caused that? I want to find that out.

I want to maintain an open mind here, and I do want to analyze it. It's important that we understand there. Because our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and guardians, they come from the American people. So it is important that the leaders, now and in the future, do understand it.

I've read Mao Tse-tung. I've read -- I've read Karl Marx. I've read Lenin. That doesn't make me a communist. So what is wrong with understanding, having some situational understanding about the country for which we are here to defend.

And I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our commissioned, noncommissioned officers, of being, quote, "woke" or something else because we're studying some theories that are out there.

That was started at Harvard Law School years ago, and it proposed that there were laws in the United States, Antebellum laws, prior to the Civil War, that led to a power differential, with African-Americans that were three-quarters of a human being when this country was formed. And then we had a Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation to change it. And we brought it up to the Civil Rights Act in 1964. It took another hundred years to change that.

So look it, I do want to know. And I respect your service, and you and I are both Green Berets. But I want to know. And it matters to our military and the discipline and cohesion of this military.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Joining me now is Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, who is an Air Force veteran and a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

Your question is that one that prompted the chairman of the joint chiefs to give that passionate response. And I wonder, Congresswoman, why -- why did you ask the question? Why did you feel it was necessary to give him your time, to yield your time so that he could expand on a response to, really, two members of Congress?

HOULAHAN: Sure, and thanks for having me.

I think his answer speaks for itself. I'm a relatively new member of Congress. I'm given five minutes every hearing to ask questions. And I expect that when I'm asking a question that I would get an answer.

And I'm frustrated by the way that we conduct ourselves in the body, sometimes asking questions that we don't want an answer to, that we don't allow time for an answer for.

And so I think it's appropriate that, when General Milley clearly had an opinion and would have liked to express it, that we give him the time to articulate that. And I'm grateful that he articulated what I thought would be his opinion so eloquently and so beautifully.

KEILAR: Did you think that there was a reason why Republicans wanted Secretary Austin, who is the first black defense secretary, to be the face of the response to questions about critical race theory, rather than Milley, who -- I mean, obviously, he's a white man. He was also appointed to be the chairman of the joint chiefs by Donald Trump.

Do you think there was a reason why they wanted Secretary Austin to be the face of the response to this question?

HOULAHAN: You're not the only one who's asked me that question, and I -- and I would be saddened to think that that was the reason why. I understand that -- that Secretary -- Secretary Austin and General Milley were also over on the Senate side doing a similar conversation. Frankly, that conversation here and there was supposed to be about the budget.

And that it was a similar way of sort of separating General Milley from Secretary Austin and asking Secretary Austin to be accountable to those questions. And it would be sad if that were because of race.

KEILAR: Why -- can you talk a little bit about, as you see this issue, the politicization of the military? In this particular issue, it's the politicization of the officer corps of the military and the young cadets who will become the General Milley or the Secretary Austin and what they are being taught.

HOULAHAN: So what General Milley said so eloquently was that it's really important, as a member of the military, whether an officer or enlisted, to first know your enemy, both foreign and domestic; and also, to understand the people that you serve and that you protect.

And so I think it is very sad that we are, in some ways, trying to politicize the very place that is supposed to be apolitical, which is our armed services.

You know, when I served active duty, you were not an "R" or a "D" whenever you were involved in some sort of a mission. You were just a member serving. And I think it's really a tragedy that it seems to be a strategy on the part of many Republicans to divide us in that way.

KEILAR: This response was to a line of question not only from Matt Gaetz but from Congressman Michael Waltz, who is -- was a -- is a Green Beret, is retired.

But on Gaetz's part, after this hearing, he tweeted.