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Suspect Charged with 7 Counts of Murder, Motive Still Unclear; Giuliani, Graham Among Trump Allies Subpoenaed in Georgia Probe; Frustrated Dems Call Biden White House 'Rudderless'; Soaring Childcare Costs Across Nation Due to Inflation; Oil Dips Below $100 a Barrel for First Time Since May. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired July 06, 2022 - 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: Good morning to viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. It is Wednesday, July 6th. I'm Brianna Keilar alongside John Berman.

[05:59:23]

And there are disturbing new details, the past of the man accused of attacking a Fourth of July parade coming to light this morning. It's raising a lot of questions about how he obtained guns, why he went unchecked.

Seven innocent Americans were killed on the street as they celebrated their freedom, and here is what we know.

Investigators say the suspect may have planned the attack for several weeks. He had two incidents with law enforcement in 2019, first when authorities were notified about a suicide attempt, and later after a family member reported that he threatened to, quote, "kill everyone."

Police removed 16 knives, a dagger and a sword. And shortly after that, he legally purchased five firearms with the help of his father.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The suspect has now been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder. Two of the fatalities, a couple whose toddler was found alive once the shooting stopped. We're going to have more on their story in a moment.

Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Highland Park to offer her support and to urge the country to act.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've GOT to be smarter as a country in terms of who has access to what and, in particular, assault weapons. And we've got to take this stuff seriously, as seriously as you are, because you have been forced to have to take it seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Adrienne Broaddus live for us from Highland Park. Adrienne, we're learning some new disturbing information about survivors, but also about how this suspected gunman got his weapons.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, we are, and today that suspect has his initial court appearance. And the state attorney, Eric Rinehart, said he will ask that judge today to hold that 21-year-old without the possibility of bail.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROADDUS (voice-over): Robert Crimo III charged with seven counts of first-degree murder in the Highland Park parade mass shooting.

ERIC RINEHART, LAKE COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY: We anticipate dozens of more charges centering around each of the victims: psychological victims, physical victims; attempt murder charges, aggravated discharge charges, aggravated battery charges. There will be dozens of more charges against Mr. Crimo.

c Monday during a July Fourth celebration, Crimo allegedly shot a high-powered rifle at people attending the parade, killing seven people and injuring 38 others, according to officials.

The Lake County coroner's office named six people who died. Two of the victims, Irina and Kevin McCarthy, have been identified as the parents of a toddler who was found alive after the shooting, according to a family member.

This as law enforcement officials released a photo showing the suspect dressed in women's clothing on the day of the shooting.

According to authorities, the July Fourth parade attack was planned several weeks in advance, and the shooter worked alone.

New details are now emerging about the suspect and his previous interactions with law enforcement.

DEPUTY CHIEF CHRISTOPHER COVELLI, LAKE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: The first was in April of 2019. An individual contacted Highland Park Police Department a week after learning of Mr. Crimo attempting suicide. The matter was being handled by mental health professionals at that time.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Later that same year, law enforcement told reporters a family member reported that Crimo said he was going to, quote, "kill everyone" in their home. At the time police intervened, removing 16 knives, a dagger and a sword from Crimo's home.

But police say no one pressed charges, so no arrest was made.

In a news release Illinois State Police said Crimo applied for a firearm owner's identification card in December of 2019 that was sponsored by his father.

At the time of that application review in January of 2020, state police said, quote, "There was insufficient basis to establish a clear and present danger and deny the FOID application." Two and a half years later, the FBI is now combing the parade route

for evidence; and police say they're now looking at Crimo's online posts. As another community is shaken by gun violence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not OK.

BROADDUS (voice-over): This mother perhaps summed up what many are feeling.

REBECCA WEININGER, WITNESS TO SHOOTING: I don't know how to stop crying. And I don't know how to stop crying for my children, who are different today than they were yesterday. And I don't know how to stop crying for the children who I don't get to hug today. And I don't know how to stop crying for the people who are in their homes and don't feel safe to come out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROADDUS (on camera): And that was Rebecca Weininger you heard from. We met her on the street yesterday giving out hugs. She attended the parade with her 2-year-old and her husband and a friend.

She said when the shots rang out, her husband grabbed their child and ran for cover; but she said she could not leave, because when she looked around she saw so many people who were unable to run and escape, so she stayed behind to help -- Brianna and John.

KEILAR: Adrienne Broaddus, live for us in Highland Park. Thank you for that report.

BERMAN: Another major story this morning. New subpoenas for members of Donald Trump's inner circle: Rudy Giuliani; Senator Lindsey Graham; legal advisers, including John Eastman, called to appear before an Atlanta-area special grand jury investigating former President Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.

[06:05:05]

With us now, New York Law School professor and former prosecutor at the New York district attorney's office, Rebecca Roiphe; and CNN senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, Elie Honig.

Everyone remembers the phone call that Donald Trump placed to the Georgia secretary of state, saying, Find me 11,000 votes there. That's all I need.

This investigation is going far beyond that, Elie. What do you make, though, of these people now being issued subpoenas? What does it tell you?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: So it tells me exactly where the D.A.'s looking. They're looking at Donald Trump. This is a batch of subpoenas aimed directly at the inner circle. If you were to draw a conceptual circle around Donald Trump, these seven people would be in it. A couple of things that are important to know about the subpoenas,

though. First of all, prosecutors, as a matter of ethics and fair practice, do not subpoena targets, meaning somebody you believe you're likely to charge. And so that includes, somewhat surprisingly, given that he apparently lied to the Georgia legislature, Rudy Giuliani. So these seven people are unlikely to be charged.

The other thing is they're all going to litigate these subpoenas. They're going to claim the attorney/client privilege for the attorneys. Lindsey Graham, senator, may claim the Speech and Debate Clause, an obscure clause of the Constitution. So it's going to take weeks or months to litigate these things out.

KEILAR: Let's talk about the Lindsey Graham part of this. You have a sitting senator who has been subpoenaed in this case. I mean, how big of a deal is that?

REBECCA ROIPHE, PROFESSOR, NEW YORK LAW SCHOOL: I think it's extraordinary. I mean, this is not the usual case, of course. But in this particular situation, to subpoena somebody who's a sitting Congress person, you know, it's significant and it shows how far reaching this investigation is at this point.

KEILAR: Does that Speech and Debate Clause protect him? Is that going to -- is that going to hold water?

ROIPHE: You know, I don't think so. I think it's certainly an issue that will get litigated. But I think, you know, at this point, it's a -- this is a criminal grand jury that is looking for evidence and I don't think that will protect him from what the -- you know, from giving this particular testimony.

HONIG: So it's going to be a professor's dream come true, because it's the kind of thing we talk about but never actually happens.

The Speech and Debate Clause essentially says a member of Congress cannot be questioned in some other body, meaning outside of Congress, but it has to relate to their legislative duties. Lindsey Graham is going to have to convince a court that his phone call to Brad Raffensperger, made a couple weeks before Trump's phone call, was somehow within the scope of his legislative duties.

BERMAN: What about Elie's first point here. When you look at the office hierarchy, what this tells us about who they're investigating, because this is the highest level in the operation after election day.

When you're doing Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman and Lindsey Graham, you're talking about the top layer of people who were supporting Donald Trump during that period. It only leaving, basically, one person higher than that to investigate.

ROIPHE: Exactly. And just like in the federal system, in the state system, if somebody is pulled into the grand jury, they get a kind of immunity that makes it much harder for prosecutors to turn around and prosecute that person. So you look for who the person is, the last person standing. And the

last person standing here who hasn't been called in and hasn't been subpoenaed is the former president himself. So clearly, he is the target of this investigation.

That doesn't mean that he's necessarily going to be indicted. It doesn't necessarily mean he's going to be convicted, but it does mean that that is who they are looking at.

HONIG: Can I just note the contrast in investigative approaches we're seeing between DOJ, on the one hand, and the D.A. in Fulton County on the other?

As Rebecca just said, these subpoenas go right to the top, versus the DOJ approach, which we've heard Merrick Garland say endless times, we start at the bottom, and we work our way up. They're both taking forever, by the way. I mean, we're a year and a half out. Nobody -- nobody has really charged anyone of any power structure, but very different investigative approaches.

KEILAR: You are not setting your watch by either of these investigations?

HONIG: No, I am not. I'm setting my sun dial.

KEILAR: You're setting your sundial. Maybe that very large sand -- what is that thing called the sand thing?

BERMAN: Hourglass.

KEILAR: The hourglass.

BERMAN: So go the days of our lives.

KEILAR: Yes, there we go. Days --

BERMAN: Soap operas tell me everything.

KEILAR: Years of our lives. Years of our lives.

OK. Sarah Matthews, deputy press secretary -- former deputy press secretary under President Trump, who resigned the night of January 6, has been subpoenaed by the committee. She's spoken to them before, but now she has agreed to testify at a future hearing. What might we be hearing here?

ROIPHE: You know, I think that we have, you know -- the last hearing gave a lot of bombshell information about his conduct, his actions, his thoughts during this whole process, which is key. It's key to understanding his role in what happened.

And I think you could hear more of that from her, but you know, it's impossible to know until we actually hear the testimony.

HONIG: Two people that we've been highlighting over on our magic wall segments every day, I'm proud to say, for weeks now have been Cassidy Hutchinson and Sarah Matthews. Cassidy Hutchinson, of course, was an enormously important witness.

The most important thing we've seen -- we've only gotten a glimpse of Sarah Matthews' testimony -- she talks about being inside the White House as the riot was happening. And she said something to the effect of, We all realized that the president had to tamp this down. Next thing we know, we look at our phones, 2:24, notification, Donald Trump sends the Mike Pence tweet. So I think we're going to get an inside view.

[06:10:11]

BERMAN: And look, it's another live witness who was a White House staffer who can corroborate perhaps Cassidy Hutchinson, who may have stories of her own from what she literally saw during that day.

Elie Honig, Rebecca Roiphe, thank you so much for being with us today.

ROIPHE: Thank you.

BERMAN: So rudderless, aimless and hopeless. That's what one Democratic member of Congress thinks of the performance inside the White House.

And what actress Debra Messing said on a call with White House aides as the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade. We have new CNN reporting ahead.

KEILAR: Plus, the legendary Carlos Santana suffering a medical emergency on stage. We'll have the latest on his condition ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:15:06]

BERMAN: New CNN reporting this morning about an overwhelming sense of frustration among Democrats over what is being described as mismanagement inside the Biden administration.

One member of Congress calls the White House rudderless, aimless and hopeless.

Joining us now CNN's senior reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere, who broke this story.

Isaac, the call is coming from within the caucus. I mean, these are Democrats telling you these things. What are they saying?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, that's right. There is a lot of frustration that they want more action out of President Biden. They feel like days, weeks go by. There's not enough going on to say that they're taking decisive moves to combat inflation. Obviously, it's a big problem that is very complicated, but still, they'd like to see some activity around it.

And they'd like to see that on other things. They'd like to see more decision-making going on. They'd like to see some accountability when it comes to even firing people over the baby formula situation, or other things before that that have continued to crop up in this administration and this White House.

And they feel like this is feeding a problem that the president has and that Democrats have going into the midterms in November, that there is not enough decisive action going on, that people don't feel like they're responsive enough to all of the problems that are there. And it's also feeding some doubts about where President Biden would be for reelection in 2024.

KEILAR: And this has really reached a fever pitch following the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. There was a call that Democrats were on, Debra Messing was on. She's been very active, obviously, in Democratic politics, and this is one of the more colorful moments in this piece of yours.

Messing said she'd gotten Joe Biden elected and wanted to know why she was being asked to do anything at all. Yelling that there didn't even seem a point to voting. Others wondered why the call was happening.

It really speaks to this fatalism that you describe in your article.

DOVERE: Yes, and that was a call that happened. That Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade was on a Friday. That call was the following Monday. So it was one of the soonest things that happened in the response.

But of course, there wasn't a lot of clear action from the White House in what they were doing. They did have this call with a bunch of celebrity and activist supporters. Alyssa Milano was also on the call complaining.

But there is this feeling among a lot of Democrats right now that they did what they were supposed to do. They voted for Joe Biden to beat Donald Trump. They voted for Democrats that are in the House and the Senate. Why isn't more happening? What's even the point?

And that is something that Democrats, obviously, are fighting back against when it comes to midterm voting. They want a lot of turnout in November.

But overall, to think that this is -- there's still reason to be invested in all of these causes. There's still reason to keep going, because it's not like any of the problems that we're facing as a country and that Joe Biden came in with were easier or fast things to fix.

BERMAN: They want to see, in your reporting, Isaac, the White House and the president fighting.

DOVERE: Yes.

BERMAN: They want to see him angry. They want to see him at least try, in their words, to do something more, even if it doesn't succeed.

You've been doing some reporting along these lines for some months, Isaac. I'm curious: Are you finding it easier or harder to find Democrats willing to come forward now? There are a few direct quotes in there. There are a few people who don't mind being quoted on the record now, it seems. What does the White House say in response?

DOVERE: Well we're still in a situation where people, especially elected politicians, feel some loyalty to the President that is overriding their desire to get into a fight with them in public.

But they also tell me that some of the reason why they don't want to talk publicly or put their names to some of the quotes that are in this article is because they feel like then they just get landed on by the White House as being problem people but that it doesn't change what actually happens. So they -- they don't want to deal with that.

The question that you asked, John, about whether people are more willing to do this, I was actually surprised at how willing, even in an anonymous quoting way, some of the people were willing to go. And just some of the -- just agitation that is coming out among members of Congress, other elected officials around the country.

I talked to a lot of people in Washington for this story but a lot of people who are not in Washington, in elected office and around elected officials, who just feel like they just want more out of the president.

And also when the president has said things like Mitch McConnell is a friend of mine. I think we can work with Mitch McConnell, a lot of Democrats say, Stop saying that. We don't want to hear that. We want to hear how we're going to beat Mitch McConnell.

BERMAN: Isaac Dovere, again, interesting reporting making a lot of waves in Washington this morning. Thanks so much for being with us.

DOVERE: Thanks, guys.

BERMAN: We are going to speak to two high-profile Democrats for their view on this later in the show.

We are getting new information out of Highland Park, Illinois, this morning. So many warning signs involving the parade shooting suspect, including interactions with police well before he bought five guns.

[06:20:17]

KEILAR: Plus, brain washing, hoods, handcuffs. A Ukrainian medic speaking exclusively to CNN about being held captive by Russian forces for three months.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: As child care costs soar nationwide, millions of parents are making tough decisions about how to find safe, affordable day care or whether to quit the workforce all together.

CNN's Gabe Cohen joins us live from Washington on this. It's not easy for parents right now, Gabe.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, that's right. It's not easy for parents, not easy for the programs, as well. So many of those child care programs are hurting. Thousands of them have closed during COVID, and the ones that are still open are now weathering inflation like all of us.

[06:25:12]

And many say they have no choice but to pass along their increased costs to to families, who themselves are now facing yet another inflation strain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): At KidzStuff Child Care Center in Baltimore, the cost of food, rent, power and supplies is soaring.

ANGELA KIDANE, KIDZSTUFF CHILD CARE CENTER: Everything is up.

COHEN (voice-over): And Angela Kidane has raised wages roughly 40 percent but is still struggling to hire staff, with one classroom closed and her wait list growing.

KIDANE: We're probably up between 30 and 35 percent for operating costs. That cost, too, is going to have to be passed along to our parents.

COHEN (voice-over): This fall, she'll raise tuition at her nonprofit for the third time in 12 months, in all, up 30 percent. For some families, thousands of dollars a year.

COHEN: What would happen if you didn't raise tuition prices?

KIDANE: We couldn't survive. We wouldn't stay open.

COHEN (voice-over): Programs nationwide are raising rates for the same reasons.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's happening everywhere. To keep the doors open, this is what has to happen; and it's going to continue to get worse.

COHEN (voice-over): Inflation is just part of it. At least 15,000 programs have closed, with 11 percent fewer child care workers than pre-pandemic, leaving an industry with a median wage just over $13 an hour. Now many parents face longer wait lists and tuition hikes.

COHEN: Revenue is going down even though there's demand for it.

SEAN TONER, PRESIDENT AND OWNER OF BEACH BABIES CHILD CARE: Because we just don't have enough teachers to be able to get the amount of children that we used to have into our buildings.

COHEN (voice-over): Sean Toner owns Beach Babies in Lewes, Delaware, a child care desert. He's raising tuition 8 to 10 percent this fall for the second straight year to offset inflation and raise teacher wages to roughly $14 an hour.

TONER: I don't want to be that person that's driving away the parents.

JESSICA GEBBIA, TEACHER, BEACH BABIES CHILD CARE: You go to sleep.

COHEN (voice-over): Jessica Gebbia is a teacher at Beach Babies, and her 5-year-old son comes here for day care.

GEBBIA: Most of my paycheck is going just to have him here. And that's rough, because now we have gas prices, food prices, everything is just going up and up.

COHEN: Have you thought about leaving the industry?

GEBBIA: I love what I do, and I can't -- these children need teachers who do love what they do.

COHEN (voice-over): But many mothers have left the workforce, part of a trend. As of May, women's jobs made up 88 percent of those lost in the pandemic.

TO-WEN TSENG, WORKING MOTHER: This is Jasper.

COHEN (voice-over): To-wen Tseng and her husband have struggled to afford child care in San Diego, $370 a week, since her employer cut her hours in half, so she flew her sons to Taiwan to stay with family as she looks for a second job.

TSENG: If I just quit my job and stayed at home and watched my kids, maybe the whole thing would be easier for my family. I hate to say this, but this is true. And the reason why we're still struggling to try to pay for this day -- child care, that's because I don't want to give up -- give up my career.

COHEN (voice-over): Millions of parents are making tough choices. For Jessica and her husband, a decision not to expand their family.

GEBBIA: We think we're just going to stick with the two.

COHEN: How much of that is child care?

GEBBIA: The child care plays a big part in that. I can't imagine having the two of them in daycare. But there's just no way. I wouldn't be able to do this job.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (on camera): Now, Build Back Better, which stalled in the Senate, would have pumped billions of dollars into the child care industry; and it would have, among other things, capped the amount that a family can spend on child care at 7 percent of their income.

Now, some states have gone ahead and passed their own child care bills. But advocates in this space, John, they're worried that, without more federal investment, more of these programs are going to close. And it's going to create a lot more problems for parents. They're only

going to get worse, meaning more people have to leave -- either leave the workforce or pay those rising prices.

BERMAN: Yes. Very difficult choices for parents. But one thing to make clear here: as a nation, the country is making choices, too. The government is making choices here that's affecting parents.

Gabe, thank you so much for your reporting.

KEILAR: For the first time in nearly two months, crude oil prices have fallen below $100 a barrel, reflecting investors' growing concerns about a U.S. recession.

So let's break this all down with CNN chief business correspondent and anchor of CNN's "EARLY START," Christine Romans; and CNN business correspondent Rahel Solomon.

I mean, bonds are, like, blinking like a red light. We're looking at these oil prices dropping, and it's concerning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT/"EARLY START" ANCHOR: Well, look, oil prices dropping, gas prices falling another couple of cents overnight, too. So that's a little bit of relief here, edging down for gas prices, but for all the bad reasons: worries about a recession.

One way to cool off, you know, red-hot oil prices is to have the worry about -- around the world of a recession. So -- so that's what you're seeing here.

Below $100 a barrel for crude, first time since early May. And it was a big move yesterday. So we're really watching what the oil market is telling us. It's telling us it sees slowing demand for oil, and it sees worries about a recession around oil.

[06:30:00]