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New Day Sunday

Officials Pressured by Trump to Overturn 2020 Election Set to Testify; CDC Director Signs Off on Vaccines for Children Under 5; National Lifeguard Shortage Forces Thousands of Pools to Close; Explosions Rock Kyiv Area As Air Defenses Engage Targets; The History and Movement to Celebrate Juneteenth; Dry, Windy Conditions Fueling Wildfires Across Spain. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired June 19, 2022 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:16]

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to your NEW DAY. I'm Kristin Fisher in for Christi Paul.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Christine. I'm Boris Sanchez.

Election officials say that President Trump personally pressured them to overturn the last election and they are set to testify publicly this week. What we can expect to hear from them and what the January 6 committee plans to focus on.

FISHER: Plus, the CDC signs off on COVID vaccines for kids as young as 6 months old. The key points that drove the decision and when those vaccinations can begin.

SANCHEZ: And scorching summer temperatures refusing to let up across the country. Where you can expect it to feel like 110 degrees this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to have 80 percent of the staff we need. We're hopeful we'll get to 80 percent of the pools that were able to open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: A shortage of workers is forcing some summer staples like community pools to stay closed. The concerns that could lead to a rise in violence.

(MUSIC)

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much for joining us this Sunday, June 19th, Juneteenth. And happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Kristin, great to be with you as always.

FISHER: Great to be with you, Boris. So, they resisted pressure from Donald Trump to help overturn the 2020

election results. Now, state officials will share their stories with the nation before the committee investigating the January 6 insurrection.

A member of that committee, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren tells CNN that these officials put the rule of law ahead of politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): These individuals are Republicans. They voted for Trump. They supported him. They wouldn't do illegal things that he asked them to do. We expect to hear in some detail the pressure placed on them and why they were true to the law instead of the pressure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Election officials from Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, are set to testify at today's the hearing along with Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers. Bowers was able to block a bill that would have given the state legislature the power to reject election results.

Let's give you more in-depth preview of what we can expect from Tuesday's hearing now.

CNN congressional reporter Daniella Diaz joins us live from Capitol Hill.

Daniella, why does the committee want to hear from these specific individuals?

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Boris, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren really summarized it. These are Republican officials who actually supported Donald Trump in the 2020 election who refused to bow to his pressure to overturn the election results in the states they represent that were key battleground states that Trump needed to win the 2020 election.

Now you said, of course, that Rusty Bowers, that Republican who is also the Arizona house state speaker, he will testify and that he has his own personal experiences. For example, he refused to bow to intimidation and attempts to get Bowers to back efforts in the legislature to decertify Biden's victory in Arizona. There's also, of course, brad Raffensperger of Georgia. He's that Republican Secretary of State and his Deputy Gabe Sterling.

Now, Raffensperger, if you remember, was part of the now infamous January 2021 phone call where Trump pressured him to, quote, find the votes for him to win the Georgia election, the Georgia state for the election.

Now, of course, Raffensperger resisted and he's already spoken to the committee. Remember, this is for the American people to hear their stories. So we will plan to hear more from them as they testify on Tuesday about their experiences from Trump as they were pressured to overturn the election results in their states -- Boris, Kristin.

FISHER: So, a big day on Tuesday. But what more can we expect after Tuesday's hearing?

DIAZ: Well, we know that Tuesday, Kristin, is the fourth hearing out of what we expect to be at least seven from this committee. All of them in an effort to show the American people and weave that narrative that Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election results and incited that violence on January 6 during that insurrection. But we also know that the next hearing that will happen after Tuesday, which was originally postponed. It was supposed to happen next week, will focus on Trump's efforts to use the Justice Department to help support his false election fraud claims.

[07:05:08]

So this is just one part of a bigger part as we continue to see as the committee wants to show the American people its research that they've conducted behind closed doors over the last 11 months and we expect to see that happen after Tuesday -- Kristin.

FISHER: Several more hearings to go. Daniella Diaz, thank you.

SANCHEZ: Let's dig deeper now with former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti. He's also the host of the "On Topic" podcast.

Good morning, Renato. Appreciate you coming on with us to talk about this.

So, you've argued that Trump's best defense is that he was, quote, detached from reality despite several advisers telling him that his claims of a stolen election were baseless.

Theoretically, though, he would only need that defense if there's a criminal prosecution. So what do you think the odds are that DOJ files charges?

RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I'm not -- I'm not -- I don't think there's a good chance the DOJ will file charges. It's possible but I think there are significant challenge. We just heard in the last hearing, for example, that there were lawyers. Now, obviously, they were dishonest lawyers. They were advancing theories that they, themselves, thought were illegal. But nonetheless, you know, John Eastman, for example, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell were advancing theories that were obviously something that could be prosecuted but obviously they were giving legal advice.

I just think that when you look at this as a whole, the Justice Department will see a coin flip here. A challenge for the Justice Department.

SANCHEZ: Renato, we were playing a clip of John Eastman, one of Trump's attorneys who pled the fifth more than 100 times to the January 6th committee and also told Rudy Giuliani on the pardon list.

If he were to make the case for Trump, if charges were filed, what would the Trump defense be that his state of mind was impaired? That he was misled? Give us your impressions.

MARIOTTI: Sure. I think the Trump team would say that -- would point to John Eastman and say he's the one who gave us that advice. Trump was relying on this well credentialed law professor who told him this was a legal scheme. I think Mr. Eastman himself has much greater peril. He is taking the Fifth for good reason. He was asking for a pardon.

Now the issue there, what he's going to say with his defense, I thought this was constitutional, I was trying to advocate vigorously on behalf of my client. I thought this wasn't a frivolous argument. He's got a lot tougher time because the jury is going to have a lot more trouble believing that he didn't know what he was doing. He's the lawyer and he's telling other lawyers he thought this was going to lose 9-0 in the Supreme Court.

Notably he did not have that conversation with former President Trump who, while he did something I think is reprehensible, it's challenging to prove his state of mind here.

SANCHEZ: On the subject of Eastman, we know he was apparently exchanges emails with the wife of Supreme Court Clarence Thomas, Ginni Thomas. We don't know the content of those emails, but we know that Eastman was telling people in his orbit that he was aware of heated exchanges, debates between Supreme Court justices about taking up cases related to Trump's claims of election fraud. The January 6 committee has put forward they want to hear from Ginni Thomas.

What do they gain if she decides to comply with them and tell her side of the story?

MARIOTTI: Well, I do think all of us gain as Americans when we find out the truth about what was happening. We don't know what exactly she was saying and doing but there's been a bit of a cloud around her comments.

So, I think, you know, given the fact there are people questioning the integrity of the court, I think it would actually enhance that if the public was able to find out what happened and hear from her, her side of the story and what her role was. Frankly, this is a challenge for the court to deal with. And so, I think the answers to situations like this ultimately is transparency and disclosure. So, I hope she does testify.

SANCHEZ: And, Renato, these state officials, two from Georgia, one from Arizona that are set to testify before the committee this week, how does their account of what happened in the weeks and months after the election bolster the committee's argument to the American people?

[07:10:02]

MARIOTTI: Well, I think the committee is trying to show this as a bipartisan investigation and obviously the Republicans try to not cooperate with what the committee was doing or most of them didn't. And so, what a committee is doing they're actually putting on Republican witnesses and we've heard from some prominent Republicans like Judge Luttig. And I think what this will show is there are Republicans who had a lot of integrity and when they pressured to do the wrong thing did not do so.

And I think they're trying -- the committee is trying to win over Republicans and independents to have a bipartisan consensus that we don't want to ever do this again or be in a situation where our election can be overturned again.

I do think regardless of what side of the aisle you are on, that is a very valuable and laudable goal because we don't want our elections to be determined by either crooked lawyer or just selected by the vice president at the end of the day.

SANCHEZ: Renato Mariotti, we've got to leave the conversation there. Appreciate your time, sir.

FISHER: Well, after months of waiting, the CDC has finally cleared the way for COVID-19 vaccinations for kids under 5.

SANCHEZ: And the majority of U.S. states have preordered thousands of doses of both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

CNN's Miguel Marquez takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kristin and Boris, it is official and this is the last big tranche of Americans who were, until now, unable to get vaccinated. Almost 20 million under 5s are out there and now able to be vaccinated against COVID-19. It is not clear how many parents will take them up on that option to get them vaccinated at least immediately.

Look, the panel who recommended this spoke and discussed this for several hours on Friday and several hours on Saturday and two unanimous votes to allow both those vaccines to be distributed and administered to under 5s.

A few things that they keyed on during those discussion, one that the vaccine is effective in under 5s in preventing severe illness, that the vaccination is better than previous infection. A lot of parents saying, oh, my child had COVID some time ago so he or she is probably inoculated against it in the future or won't have a very bad case in the future. They found that it is still better for them to be vaccinated and ensures especially as the COVID-19 virus is shaking much better to be vaccinated than rely on a previous infection and while there are side effects like for you or me when we got this vaccine, there are side effects. They believe they are manageable. They will also watch very carefully as this rolls out.

And then they discussed the practicality of both distributing and administering all these vaccines as they get out around the country so that practitioners know how to use them and give to young people because it is a slightly different regime. The two different vaccines they voted unanimously to approve, the Moderna vaccine is a two-shot regimen. The Pfizer vaccine is three shots. And now that they have approved it they were already ordered up by

some states and already on the way to certain locations so we could see shots in arms in the next couple of days -- Boris, Kristin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FISHER: That is great news.

Well, still to come this morning, 100 million. That is the number of people the U.N. says has been forcibly displaced around the world. And despite the grim milestone there are stories of hope.

And next, just as summer temperatures heat up, thousands of kids could be left high and dry. Why hundreds of public pools and summer camps may not open.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:18:04]

SANCHEZ: Here's a quick check of your morning's top stories.

A sad update to something we first told you about yesterday. Philadelphia fire officials have released the name of the firefighter killed in a building collapse that happened very early Saturday.

FISHER: He is Lieutenant Sean Williamson, 51 years old, and a 27-year veteran of the Philadelphia Fire Department.

The mayor of Philadelphia saying in a statement, for 27 years, he dedicated his life to protecting the people of our city. The building collapsed after a fire early Saturday morning. Six people were trapped in the building, five rescued and taken to the hospital. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

And a chaotic scene in Virginia after police say someone fired shots in a mall. Investigators say that a fight broke out between two groups and during the fight somebody pulled out a gun, fired shots. No one was injured by gunfire but three people were hurt while trying to leave the mall. No suspects taken into custody. Investigators say they're looking through video taken at the time.

SANCHEZ: TSA officials say this past Friday was the most popular air travel day of the year so far. TSA says it screened nearly 2.5 million people Friday, the most since the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Several factors contributed to the surge in passengers but this is the first time the stock market and banks are closed for the Juneteenth holiday, it coincides with Father's Day. So overwhelming crowds make perfect sense.

FISHER: Perfect sense.

Well, you know, Boris, a trip to the pool right about now would be pretty nice considering the really high temperatures we're seeing across the U.S. cities across the country are having a really tough time finding something that used to be taken for granted really, lifeguards.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, it seems there are triple digits just about everywhere you look. Experts say more than 100,000 public pools may not even open this summer because of the lifeguard shortage.

[07:20:05]

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Had you ever been a lifeguard before?

ROBIN BORLANDOE, PHILADELPHIA LIFEGUARD: I was a lifeguard when I was 16.

YURKEVICH: How long ago was that?

BORLANDOE: I'm 70 now.

YURKEVICH: This summer, Robin Borlandoe is taking the plunge, getting back in the pool in Philadelphia to be a lifeguard, 54 years later.

BORLANDOE: I want to do something and feel worthwhile, purpose or something.

YURKEVICH: She found her calling after she heard the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Department wouldn't be able to open all of their 70 pools this summer. They're facing lifeguard shortages, and so is the rest of the country. One-third of the 309,000 public pools nationwide will not open.

How many do you think you realistically will be able to open this year?

KATHRYN OTT LOVELL, COMMISSIONER, PHILADELPHIA PARKS & RECREATION: We're going to have about 80 percent of the staff we need. So we're hopeful we're going to get to about 80 percent of pools that we're able to open.

YURKEVICH: It's part of the fierce competition for workers in a red hot summer job market, fueled in part by the lack of foreign workers following COVID immigration restrictions.

There are 11.4 million unfilled jobs with an unemployment rate of 3.6 percent. And despite raising wages, a marketing campaign on TikTok, and free certification, the Philadelphia Parks and Rec Department can't find enough lifeguards.

LOVELL: Have people saying to us all the time, target is offering $18 an hour, I'll be in the air conditioning and I get a discount.

YURKEVICH: How do you fight that, though?

LOVELL: It's hard. YURKEVICH: When public pools don't open, it leaves some neighborhoods

without an escape from the heat and crime.

LOVELL: We're experiencing a huge uptick in violent crimes, specifically gun violence. Critical for us to have safe spaces like this.

YURKEVICH: And across the country, YMCAs which typically serve lower income families have 75 percent of the 250,000 staff members they need to operate.

PAUL MCENTIRE, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, YMCA: We have competition in our maintenance, cleaning, and cooking staff with anything that would fall under the hospitality industry.

YURKEVICH: And those camps, more than 1700 of them nationally, also act as child care when kids are out of school. Critical so parents can work.

MCENTIRE: We still have most of our camps, a need for more staff to be able to take children off the wait list.

YURKEVICH: As Borlandoe waits for Philadelphia's pools to open by the end of this month, she now sees her role as more than just a lifeguard.

How do you thing it's going to be different this time around?

BORLANDOE: I'm hoping that being a mother and a grandmother, I'm hoping I'm a little wiser now. And that's what I want to bring, just natural, just that warmth. But don't test me, though.

YURKEVICH: Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, Philadelphia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FISHER: Vanessa, thank you.

This morning, Russia is turning its sights towards the country's capital a day after President Zelenskyy visited the frontline in southern Ukraine. We're live in Kyiv, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:27:21]

SANCHEZ: We want to update you on the situation in Eastern Europe as the war in Ukraine rages on this morning with a fresh round of attack from Russian forces.

Military officials say the capital, Kyiv, was rattled by explosions today. So far, fortunately, no reports of any casualties.

FISHER: And fierce fighting continues in the eastern Donbas region where Russia is trying to break through Ukrainian defenses.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is live in Kyiv, Ukraine.

And, Salma, President Zelenskyy made a rare trip to the front lines of the war this weekend. What exactly did he do while he was there?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, yesterday he made his first visit to the southern frontline, the coastal cities of Mykolaiv and Odesa, places that have been targeted by Russia's attempt to take control of the Black Sea coast. Mykolaiv in particular, early on in the conflict, army barracks there were hit by Russian warplanes, killing and wounding dozens of soldiers. Civilian neighborhoods, of course, have been targeted by Russian artillery.

So, you see President Zelenskyy there walking through that damage, dressed in military style clothing, surveying the damage. He later met with Ukrainian soldiers and handed out medals and said take care of Ukraine. It's what we have.

He went on to Odesa. There also, he surveyed damage and emphasized the importance of boosting morale on the front lines. So, the message was clear to the troops and residents that live in the areas, yes, we are facing this much tougher military force, but we have the will to resist. And he wanted to give that morale boost.

SANCHEZ: And, Salma, Ukraine says that Russian efforts to break through near Severodonetsk were foiled but we're learning of a deadly missile attack in Dnipro. What can you tell us about that?

ABDELAZIZ: Yeah. So, we just got information about this Russian missile striking a fuel depot and fuel tanker. We understand one person was killed and several were wounded in the explosion, again, struck by Russian missiles. It comes, of course, as Russian forces try to degrade Ukrainian infrastructure along the east as the fight for Severodonetsk heats up.

It's the key battleground, of course, right now. One of the major Ukrainian stronghold. Ukrainian forces are on the back foot. They say they're still holding the line but this would be an important victory if they're capable of taking the Donbas, they will make that major announcement.

But that battle continues. It's fierce. It's street to street.

SANCHEZ: Salma Abdelaziz, we appreciate the update live from Kyiv.

So it is a historic celebration, the first widely celebrated Juneteenth national holiday. Up next, how Juneteenth is both personal and political and why one professor says it matters now more than ever.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:34:45]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Last year, Juneteenth became the first federal holiday in the United States to be approved since Martin Luther King Jr. Day nearly 40 years ago. KRISTIN FISHER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Fredricka Whitfield has more now on

its history and the long road for its national recognition.

[07:35:02]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Juneteenth is a celebration that marks the end of slavery in the United States. Also known as Emancipation Day, many consider it to be the country's second Independence Day. It was on June 19, 1865, that union soldiers led by this man, General Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston, Texas, with orders to inform residents that the civil war had ended and to tell enslaved African Americans they were finally free.

The message came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln had issued the emancipation proclamation. His order was difficult to enforce, so many slaves didn't see freedom until the end of the war. Many African Americans have marked the anniversary for years. But it was a woman from Texas named Opal Lee who started a movement to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.

Known as the grandmother of Juneteenth, the 95-year-old campaigned on the issue for decades. She even held a two and a half mile march each year to commemorate the two and a half years it took for slaves in Texas to learn they were free.

OPAL LEE, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Please, please continue the kinds of things you know we need to become one people. It's not a white thing. It's not a black thing. It's an American thing.

WHITFIELD: In 1980, Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth a state holiday. By 2019, 47 states and the District of Columbia followed suit. Last year, President Joe Biden signed a law making Juneteenth a federal holiday. A dream come true for Lee and for so many others.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By making Juneteenth a federal holiday all Americans can feel the power of this day and learn from our history and celebrate progress and grapple with the distance we've come, but the distance we have to travel.

WHITFIELD: A historical marker can be seen today in Galveston, Texas, at the site where General Granger and his troops set up their headquarters announcing the end of slavery.

Today, Americans recognize Juneteenth with parties and gatherings, and the day is marked as a celebration of African American freedom and achievement.

LEE: I would scream it from the house tops that unity is freedom. People have been taught to hate, and if people have been taught to hate, they can be taught to love.

WHITFIELD: Fredricka Whitfield, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Thanks to Fredricka for that story.

Our next guest makes the argument that this year's Juneteenth is especially significant as lawmakers investigate an attempt to subvert democracy during the insurrection and amid criticism that there are ongoing efforts to white wash history by blocking students to learn about systemic racism.

So let's bring Peniel Joseph. He's the director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of "The Third Reconstruction: America's Struggle for Racial Justice in the 21st Century."

Good morning, Peniel. Great to have you on.

You're making the argument that Juneteenth is just as significant a holiday as the Fourth of July, as, effectively, the true birthday of democracy in the United States. Make the case. Why?

PENIEL JOSEPH, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF RACE & DEMOCRACY AT UT-AUSTIN: Yeah, everyone, happy Father's Day and happy Juneteenth to everyone.

When we think about Juneteenth, it really is a corollary to July. When we think of independent day like Frederick Douglass said, what the Negroes the Fourth of July in his famous 1852 speech in Rochester, New York. There was always a contradiction with 1776 because of racial slavery, also because women couldn't vote because of what the country had done and settlers had done to Native American peoples as well.

So Juneteenth provides us a context to really become a new nation. Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass really all called it a second American founding because it's through Juneteenth not just black people but all Americans in the 21st century have the concept of birthright citizenship. We have voting rights even though those are under assault and this idea of dignity and freedom.

So, when we think of Juneteenth, we have to think about those Americans who are black and enslaved as really patriots alongside the heroes of the American Revolution. So, this year, because of the January 6th hearings and also because of the anti-CRT legislation passed that really precludes millions of our young people from learning this history this matters now more than ever.

[07:40:07]

And as we run up to the anniversary of the country, in 2026, we have to really think to ourselves why Juneteenth is so important and how it can be a shared moment of national learning but also unity and impact for how we can change the inequalities that really came to the fore in 2020 that allowed us to have this federal holiday.

SANCHEZ: Peniel, I want to share with our viewers a panel of the op- ed that you wrote for CNN.com. Quote, the very fact America now officially commemorates Juneteenth is still a sign of hopeful, if simultaneously fragile racial progress. The first holiday in the nation's history that reckons with racial slavery and the black contribution to American freedom, Juneteenth serves as an annual reminder of the enormous power and potential of a multiracial democracy that remains in many ways as fraught in our time as it was during reconstruction.

I want to ask you about that hope and faith and the power and potential about a multiracial democracy because, as I've experienced and I'm sure you experienced, that idea that doesn't sit well with some people.

JOSEPH: No, it doesn't -- it doesn't. And, you know, one of the things that we have to come to terms with as Americans, we've always had this battle between reconstructionist supporters of multiracial democracy, and redemptionist advocates of the racial status quo under racial slavery, which was white supremacy. That continues in the 21st century.

What's so hopeful, and this is where you get to Barack Obama and you get to so many different multiracial movements is that we've managed to overcome the most heinous aspects of our history to an extent, to an extent. We haven't completely defeated it. And so, when we think of Juneteenth, sometimes we erroneously cast this day as a day where Black people finally were told they were free. That's not true.

The three orders from Gordon Granger say that Black people are free, they have to do work contracts, they should stay on plantations and they shouldn't go to military outposts. And remember, in 1865, military outposts were the only way you could get letters, where you could get information about what was going on.

And what Black people did was follow the first one, but they didn't follow two and three. They didn't just stay on plantations in east Texas and other places and they did not stay away from military outposts. What they did is conceive of their own vision and brand of citizenship and dignity right there in 1865 and by the next year, they were celebrating Juneteenth as emancipation day, as Independence Day for black people.

So when we think about that legacy, that's how we get to the heroic period of the civil rights movement. That's how we get to Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. And the people we all think of as these unbelievable heroes in the 21st century.

So Juneteenth is unbelievably important for us because it provides us a different way of thinking about American democracy and who the architects of that democracy are. Yes, Thomas Jefferson is one of the architects of American democracy, but so are the enslaved Black women and men who made Juneteenth emancipation day something that was tangible and real for over a century and a half before we turned this into a federal holiday.

And as somebody who is a native New Yorker and now a Texas transplant, I'll say that Texas is really important here because, in a way, as goes Texas, as goes the United States. And so Texas was leading the way here, Black folks in Texas. A lot of times, they're left out of the civil rights history. Black,

Latinx, indigenous folks, and white supporters who have been in solidarity with those Black folks, more than allyship, these are white abolitionists who fought and died alongside Black people, those are the people who really have celebrated Juneteenth. And it's important for us now more than ever to think about the reverberations of that and how do we impact and say by 2026 at the 250th anniversary of the country how do we impact and bend the curve on systemic racism and inequality that still continues to pervade our society?

SANCHEZ: It is a struggle that continues, a nation that is still working to make good on the promise of its founding document that all are created equal.

Peniel Joseph, we got to leave the conversation there. Appreciate your perspective and your time. Thanks for sharing part of your Sunday with us.

JOSEPH: Thank you.

FISHER: Well, CNN will be marking Juneteenth as well with our inaugural Juneteenth concert. Before taking the stage later tonight, three-time Grammy winner, musician Ne-Yo shared with CNN's Jim Acosta the importance of Juneteenth and celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans. Listen to this.

[07:45:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NE-YO, THREE-TIME AWARD-WINNING ARTIST: As a Black man this is kind of is our and is our holiday, you know what I mean? This is about the celebration of our freedom. You know, when it actually happened, not when the history books said it happened, when it actually happened.

I don't think a lot of black people initially knew what it was completely, you know what I'm saying? I think that, you know, the histories did a very good job of kind of hiding it from us. But now that we know, there's no silencing us, you know what I mean?

So, we're going to celebrate. We're going to celebrate loudly. And it needs to be on television so the next generation and the next generation and the next generation can see what it is, understand the importance of it, and celebrate as well.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: Can this truly be a celebration, do you think, when the community is still fighting for equality?

NE-YO: I think that if we only focus on the fight, if we only focus on the negatives, then we have defeated ourselves before we even begin the fight, you know? So, I think that is very, very important that we celebrate our victories big and small so that -- so that we can stay motivated to continue this fight, you know? And God -- Lord willing, the fight will end one day and everybody will just realize that we're all the damn same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: And you can see Ne-Yo, along with Earth, Wind and Fire, The Roots, and other stars as they lift their voices for Juneteenth, a global celebration for freedom live tonight at 8:00 p.m., only on CNN.

Well, as dangerous heat continues to engulf the Gulf Coast, there's not going to be much relief as more heat is on the way next week. We're tracking it for you after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We've been telling you about a heat wave hitting the United States and also sweeping across Europe, as well. And in Spain, firefighters are battling massive wildfires on top of those high temperatures. Dry, windy conditions are being blamed for hundreds of fires across that country.

FISHER: Yeah. Journalists Al Goodman joins us now live from Madrid.

Al, how bad is it there? How hot is it there?

AL GOODMAN, JOURNALIST: Hi, Kristi. It is really bad in terms of forest fires because of days of days, all last week basically of these dry, hot conditions. This massive air blowing up from North Africa, dry, hot air.

So, right now, the northern part of the country, surprisingly not southern Spain but northern Spain is the hardest hit in terms of the temperatures, the highest temperatures and also in terms of the forest fires.

So, there is one on the west side of Spain near the border with Portugal that has burned 60,000 acres of land, 25,000 hectares of land over the last several days, hundreds of firefighters. It's caused officials to stop the bullet train from going to that part of northern Spain out of precaution. It caused villages to be evacuated. Some of those people are able to go back.

And as you go across the country towards Barcelona, in the northeastern part of Spain, there are dozens of fires around there on the inland part. So how hot was it? The hottest part of Spain yesterday was not in the south but it was at San Sebastian Airport that's in northern Spain, the northern Basque country by the water, 43.5 Celsius or 110 Fahrenheit. Other parts have been easier with 35 degrees centigrade, in the high 90s.

Here in Madrid, there's a bit of a break but basically Spain and France have been sweltering with this heat which is causing massive problems including economic decisions for people. Do I have money to turn on the air conditioning at home? Because energy prices are so high -- Boris, Kristin.

SANCHEZ: Al Goodman, live for us from Madrid -- thank you so much, Al.

FISHER: And here in the U.S., triple digit temperatures and severe storms expected across the country into a new week with nearly 50 million people under heat alerts today.

SANCHEZ: Let's get a look at your forecast with CNN's Allison Chinchar. She is live in the CNN weather center for us.

Allison, a lot of places could potentially break record.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and it would be the second week in a row. That's going to be the concern is the back to back heat waves where people are basically nonstop running their air conditioners. We get it, it's summer, it's hot, but when you have record breaking highs that are well above constantly, it takes its toll.

Fargo, North Dakota, looking at topping at 101 today, but that feels like temperature with the humidity at 105. Minneapolis 93. Kansas City topping out at 92.

But a lot of that heat will spread across the country, even the Mountain West which will be below average for today seeing the temperatures jumping up in the coming days.

And again, we're not just talking three, four, even five degrees above normal. For a lot of these places, it's 10 to even 20 degrees above where they would be normally this time of year. Chicago going from a high of 95 tomorrow, up to triple digits by Tuesday. Atlanta likely to reach triple digits by Wednesday.

Raleigh going from 84 on Monday up to 97 by Wednesday. That heat is also helping to fuel some showers and thunderstorms across the central U.S. You've got severe storms possible today with damaging winds and large hail mainly across areas of Montana and North Dakota, but it does stretch all the way south, back into areas of Eastern Colorado.

You also have showers and thunderstorms expected across the southwest. Monsoon season has begun in the southwestern U.S. So, you have the potential there unfortunately for floods.

[07:55:05]

Especially in areas where we had the wild fires, you have those burn scar areas which are very susceptible to debris flows, Kristin and Boris, as well as the potential for some mud slides.

FISHER: Allison Chinchar, thank you so much. And, you know, Boris, I know the heat is coming to us here in Washington, D.C. But it was -- it was pretty chilly this morning when I left my house, in the low 50s. I needed a jacket.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. It is going to get hotter, though. So, you better prepare for that. Hydrate. Enjoy your Father's Day, enjoy Juneteenth.

Kristin, thanks so much for getting up early for us. Come back any time.

And don't go anywhere --

FISHER: Thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

"INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY WITH ABBY PHILLIPS" is up after a quick break. Thanks for watching.

FISHER: Thanks.