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Critical Days Ahead For Biden Agenda; Supreme Court Dismisses Latest Obamacare Challenge, 7-2; Republicans Focus On Culture Wars Over Biden Agenda; Critical Race Theory; Some GOP Lawmakers Pushing New January 6 Conspiracy Theories; NYC Mayoral Primary Hits Final Stretch. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired June 20, 2021 - 08:00   ET

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

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[08:00:28]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST (voice-over): A pivotal week for the Biden agenda -- a potential compromise on infrastructure and decision day on voting rights.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MAJORITY LEADER: Our goal remains crystal clear. Protect the right to vote and put a stop to the tide of voter suppression.

PHILLIP: Plus, Republicans hope racial grievance can deliver at the ballot box.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Critical race theory is bigoted. It is every bit as racist as the Klansmen in white sheets.

PHILLIP: And a conservative-dominated Supreme Court upholds Obamacare again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was a watershed event. The Affordable Care Act is here to stay.

PHILLIP: What the decision tells us about Trump's three nominees.

INSIDE POLITICS, the biggest stories sourced by the best reporters, now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIP (on camera): Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. I'm Abby Philip.

President Biden had a chance to hone his diplomatic skills at last week's summit with Vladimir Putin and he'll need them to be sharp in the critical days ahead for his top domestic priorities.

Among them is voting rights, scheduled for a key Senate vote this Tuesday. And Senator Joe Manchin made a last ditch appeal to Republicans for a narrower plan than most Democrats want. But a key player Stacey Abrams says she can live with it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STACEY ABRAMS, FOUNDER, FAIR RIGHT: If Joe Manchin and the U.S. senators who support this legislation are willing to come together on a compromise we will make progress. We will help to continue to ensure access to democracy for as many Americans as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: But the reality is, it's still dead in the water without Republican support. Here is what the GOP leader in the Senate thinks of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: Equally unacceptable, totally inappropriate. All Republicans I think will oppose that as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: And joining us now with their reporting and their insight: CNN's Kaitlan Collins, Julie Pace of "The Associated Press", Evan McKend of the Spectrum News, and Paul Kane of "The Washington Post".

So, PK, can anyone be surprised that McConnell says hell no to a voting rights bill?

PAUL KANE, SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON POST: Yeah. Mitch McConnell has cared about very few policy issues. He is really always about power and politics and holding the majority.

One issue that has run through his entire career in the Senate has always been elections and election laws, campaign finance issues, and voting rights. And so this is one of those things that he has probably always been a no on when it comes to this bill. And as Manchin was trying to move a little bit into the middle, trying to do a little bit of modest reforms to what was considered a liberal bill but McConnell was never really going to go for it.

And it's set up a situation where on Tuesday they'll have this sort of preliminary test vote. It'll almost certainly fail 50/50 if all 100 show up. It will get nowhere near the 60 votes needed, then the Democrats have to figure out their next play is.

PHILLIP: Yeah. So, if you are Joe Manchin, Julie, I mean, does this make you rethink the whole idea? I mean, he actually has said, I am convinced that we can get bipartisan support for, you know, a pared down voting rights bill. That seems clearly untrue at this point.

JULIE PACE, AP WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: It doesn't seem likely at all. It's hard to imagine what you could put on the floor in the Senate that would get bipartisan support for all of reasons Paul outlined. The question for Manchin is if you actually care about this issue, if you want to see progress on this issue, you're probably not going to be able to get that with Republican votes. That leads us to the conversation about the filibuster.

But that's right, I think Paul knows better than I do, but I think that that's where you get stuck with Joe Manchin. It just is hard for us to see how Joe Manchin who sees himself not just as somebody who supports bipartisanship but who is a believer in the institution of the Senate. He believes that the Senate should work with the filibuster in place.

I think it is very unlikely he's going to move off of that position to get a voting rights bill through.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: But what this does do is they won't get any legislative victories out of this but they're getting a symbolic victory. If they have Joe Manchin onboard and they can have every Democrat vote in favor of it and the Republicans foil it and they can say here is our argument that we have done everything we can and the Senate Republicans and their maneuvering is denying us the ability to actually move this forward.

I think that is just as important to Democrats to be able to sell that and talk about that and that is why it was so important when Joe Manchin came out and outlined these guidelines is now they can say, okay, well, we did have all of our party onboard, because otherwise it would have given Republicans an ability to say not even all Democrats can agree on what they want to see move forward.

[08:05:13]

PHILLIP: But would Democrats have been okay with what Manchin was putting forward? There were some of them were saying, you know, this is a Republican bill light but at the same time, you had Stacey Abrams on the other saying, hey, I can come to the table on this. I mean, did Democrats kind of dodge a bullet here in having to sort out their own internal fights?

EVA MCKEND, SPECTRUM NEWS CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Senator Schumer even said he was open to adopting Manchin's changes in order to get all Democrats together. He is bringing this up for a vote to keep this a live herb unite. He knows how important this issue is to Democrats across the country.

And so, this is all messaging to keep this issue front and center and to say we are the party of voting rights. Republicans are not. I will say, though, I think that Republicans are worried about the messaging, the show of force they showed last week, more than a dozen Senate Republicans coming together to hold a press conference.

Senator McConnell having two press conferences in one week is unusual, in Washington. He doesn't like to go in front of the press in Washington that much. And so to see him do this, they are concerned with how they are being perceived on this issue.

PHILLIP: Yeah, but meanwhile, you know, as we were just talking about whether there were divisions among Democrats, there are on infrastructure. On this issue of infrastructure, a lot of pushback from folks like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who is saying what are we doing here in trying to compromise with Republicans?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Are we passing a deal that makes the most jobs? Are we passing a deal that brings down the most climate emissions? Are we passing a deal that raises wages and actually improves our infrastructure for the next generation? And if a bipartisan deal sucks up trillions of dollars in bridges to nowhere because it makes people feel good, then that's going to be a huge concern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: So, Kaitlan, is the White House still committed to a bipartisan bill at this point?

COLLINS: They say that they are taking this latest proposal that has been gaining and they're looking at it. I think they have the AOCs and other progressives and concerns in the back of their minds, which is that, we're going to move forward and maybe get this bipartisan deal and then not everyone is going to be onboard with a massive package later down the road.

And so, the White House has kind of been quietly navigating this. As President Biden was overseas this past week with his top aides still in town working on it, because they see that Chuck Schumer and others are moving forward with the reconciliation process to fast track a potentially bigger bill.

But I do think that is the concern they have to worry about is that even if they get a bipartisan bill that people will vote for, then they have to worry about, you know, they've got the slim majority and these factions of progressives can really derail the agenda if they don't like what the climate proposal is going to look like.

So, I think Schumer is trying to take care of that by moving forward with the reconciliation bill so they can say vote for this bipartisan bill. Here is what we've already got moving on for the reconciliation.

PACE: Both of these issues -- voting and infrastructure -- this is the challenge of the Biden presidency in this moment right now. He wants to pursue bipartisanship but every step that he or moderates take toward a bill that could bring some Republicans onboard risk losing Democrats on the left. He just doesn't have the numbers right now to afford to loss those progressives.

So, they have to keep the progressives happy, try to get some Republicans onboard. It is very difficult to see on both of these issues and pretty much anything else Biden wants to do going forward how he can keep those coalitions together and make everybody happy.

PHILLIP: One thing progressives are saying that they want is to maybe -- maybe we'll be okay with this bipartisan bill that's small. By small I mean $1.2 trillion. But we have to have some guarantees that there will be a reconciliation bill that's everything we really want down the road. And the reconciliation bill that, you know, Bernie Sanders is talking about, is $6 trillion.

How realistic is that?

KANE: The Sanders budget is -- it's the kitchen sink. It's the family room, dining room, everything.

PHILLIP: The whole house.

KANE: Yeah. I mean, it's almost the entire Democratic domestic agenda. It is probably a nonstarter.

But what progressives are really worried about is this replay of what happened in 2009-2010 where the House went forward with a climate bill called cap in trade, taxing carbon, then it passed this month, 12 years ago, and then just sat in the Senate and sat in the Senate. So they're worried there is going to be a White House that signs on to this deal for bipartisan bridges, tunnels, highways, roads, traditional infrastructure, and then their stuff, the climate stuff, and taxing the rich, is all going to sit there in a secondary car waiting for its turn to get on the track.

[08:10:03]

And what happens if by then Joe Manchin says, you know what, I liked the first bill more, and I don't really need the second bill?

They don't want to see that happen a second time in 12 years.

PHILLIP: That could very well happen. I mean, how do you assure it won't?

MCKEND: Right. I am also skeptical of a $6 trillion bill clearing the Senate. We're already hearing from Senator Jon Tester of Montana that that is a lot of money. Senator Manchin says he is interested to read the text once it comes out but that he's concerned about the deficit.

So I don't see how that works. House Budget Chairman John Yarmouth often says, we are all Joe Manchins. There isn't a lot of flexibility when you have slim majorities but it is unclear how they're going to rally around this.

My idea is maybe if they have something in it for everyone, if there is something included in this massive bill that works for every single Democrat, maybe some might hold their nose for the large, top line, and ultimately go with it because their own priorities for their communities are in the bill.

PHILLIP: Maybe and that is a big maybe. But the truth is you're right. There are more Joe Manchins in the Senate than I think people give credit for.

But coming up next for us, why some Democrats are pushing the Supreme Court's oldest justice to retire as soon as possible.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:36]

PHILLIP: In 2016, then candidate Donald Trump made a promise. His Supreme Court picks would push through conservative priorities like striking down Obamacare, unlike the George W. Bush appointed chief justice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: Justice Roberts gave us Obamacare. Obamacare would have been terminated twice if it weren't for Justice Roberts. I will work with people that I respect, conservative people, and will appoint judges that will be good and I don't think I'll have any catastrophic appointment like Justice Roberts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: But so far, it hasn't turned out that way. On Thursday, two of his three nominees, Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett joined the majority in the 7-2 decision to keep the law intact.

Joining us now is CNN's legal analyst, Joan Biskupic.

So, Joan, three strikes and you're out, right? Does that mean that Obama care settled law, law of the land? It's probably not going anywhere, at least as far as the courts are concerned.

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Right, at least so far as the court is concerned for the overall measure. I am sure we will see more challenges, picking around the edges that the court might even accept, but right now, in its entirety, it stands. And this was a ruling in which the court said, don't even come here with this claim. It rejected it outright saying, you states, Republican states, led by Texas, didn't even have any injury to assert here.

And it was actually a relatively easy vote for Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. It wasn't on the merits. So, as much as Donald Trump is stung by this ruling, it wasn't as momentous as back in 2012 when John Roberts on his own cast that deciding vote. So, this tells us something about those two appointees, but there is more to learn.

PHILLIP: Yeah, as a political matter, this has been the story of what happens when a law is on the books, becomes part of people's lives, then becomes far less politically potent for the Republicans. The Republicans have tried to repeal this in Congress and haven't been able to. Is it time to give up?

PACE: It is a remarkable evolution. I mean, Paul and I remember covering this from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue in the early days and both the politics and legal threat Obamacare was under for a number of years really made it uncertain whether this was going to be a measure that sustained its presence in people's lives.

Now that it has, it has become popular. There are Americans who oppose Democratic politics who do not want to see this law rolled back. So, Republicans have a choice right now. Do they want to keep fighting essentially the last war on health care? Do they want to keep going back to the Obama care well? Or do they want to come to the table?

You know, this law is not perfect and it is a bit confusing and a bit sprawling. They want to come to the table with something that would fix what they see as the problems. They haven't gotten there yet. It is confusing why they haven't but that is the choice they have to make right now.

PHILLIP: In terms of the court itself, Joan, you wrote this week this latest development suggests a possible 3-3-3 pattern with Roberts, Brett -- Barrett, and Kavanaugh at center right, putting a check on their more conservative brethren who regularly push to overturn precedent.

I think a lot of people would be surprised to read that analysis and thinking about Kavanaugh and Barrett as the center right of the court right now?

BISKUPIC: Well, that is because of how rightward the whole court has gone. Neil Gorsuch's, president Trump's first appointee is very consistently on the far right. Brett Kavanaugh has since 2018 given us kind of a mixed record but, mainly, is over on the right. It's Justice Amy Coney Barrett who is showing more caution now.

And I do have to say as someone who has studied John Roberts for the last five years very intensely, he is still in control. I really think he has shown that even though this is a 6-3 court now, he has five more conservative members to his right, he has been able to steady the court at least at this point and have as partners Justices Barrett and Kavanaugh.

PHILLIP: Right. Coming up for the court are some big decisions, right? We've got some decisions on voting rights, some decisions on unions, an upcoming important cases on abortion rights, the death penalty, gun control. Some people saying, hold your horses in categorizing Amy Coney Barrett as anything frankly until we see what she does.

[08:20:06]

But it's also putting pressure on Justice Breyer from progressives to call it a day. They do not want another situation where they have -- well, I mean, they don't want a lot of different scenarios. They're putting pressure on him to get off the court so they can appoint someone else.

KANE: Dick Durbin, the Senate Democratic whip, told my colleague this earlier in the year, one heart beat away. The Senate Democratic majority right now is based on a 50/50 Senate and Vice President Harris's tie-breaking vote and Durbin said it. We are one heart beat away. If some senator gets sick and the Democratic senator gets sick they lose their majority. All of a sudden the ability to confirm Justice Breyer's replacement next summer all of a sudden comes in doubt.

So there are a lot of progressives, a lot of regular old Democrats, who would just like to see him retire now. He just wrote the opinion on health care. Go out on top. Retire now so they can quickly replace him with a younger progressive, and not get into the situation they were with Justice Ginsburg where they were waiting and waiting and time ran out in a bad situation for liberals.

PHILLIP: The message, retire now, was literally in the newspapers, in "Politico", a full page ad telling Justice Breyer, time to get out of here. But the reason for that is because of this from the Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the senate, who is playing hardball on the issue of whether they will confirm judges

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MCCONNELL: I think it is highly unlikely. In fact, no, I don't think either party if it controlled -- if it were different from the present would confirm a nominee in the middle of an election. What was different in 2020 was we were the same party as the president.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

PHILLIP: If you are Joe Biden, that is a real problem for you. So what is the White House thinking right now? They have someone in Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson who is just confirmed to the appellate court who progressives want to be Breyer's replacement.

Where are their heads at on how quickly this needs to happen?

COLLINS: I think it is one of the most sensitive issues any White House deals with. Yes, you can see people like AOC and others start to take steps forward and say he should retire but for the White House, it is a completely different matter. That we know it is the top of every president's mind when it comes to legacy making.

And I think Biden is well aware of that, thinking my predecessor who I say I am a 180 of just had three picks to the Supreme Court, which is astonishing. That does not happen. It is so rare.

And so I think that is something that is on their minds of course every White House has a prepared list of potential nominees that they could get ready and they're constantly vetting people I think. Even if it is in a casual manner they are prepared for it. I think the question is does it come to a point where people and the president's allies start to try to apply that pressure in a real way?

PHILLIP: And if you are Justice Breyer, you're thinking stop telling me what to do.

BISKUPIC: That's right. You know, he once was the Senate counsel and he worked with the Senate Judiciary Committee. He is very close to Biden. He's close to Ron Klain. He's close to many people with the Biden administration.

But he loves his job. He's been there for 27 years. I don't think he's quite ready to leave yet. But he is also a realist.

And I think at this point, it could go either way. I would watch not just on the last day of the term but maybe a little bit after that. Just because, you know, right now everything is so focused on finishing up the term. He might make a decision a little bit later. I think it is just a tough, very tough personal call.

PHILLIP: Yeah, absolutely. Especially for someone who has wanted the court to be outside of the realm of politics.

BISKUPIC: That's right.

PHILLIP: Thank you, Joan, for being with us this morning.

And coming up next for us, Republicans find new culture wars to fight. Is it their path to power in Washington?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:28:45]

PHILLIPS: Republicans are coalescing around a midterm message that has nothing to do with the economy or the Biden agenda. Instead, it is all about culture wars and especially racial resentment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Critical race theory teaches children as young as kindergarten to be ashamed of their skin color.

SEN. RON JOHHNSON (R-WI): They are giving propaganda to our children. They are turning our children away from faith and family and our founding principles and ideals.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FLORIDA: Treating students based on their race rather than the content of their character is not something we should be putting taxpayer dollars towards. We banned critical race theory in our school system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: The truth is it is an academic theory that holds racism is embedded in our legal systems and our policies and it is not something actually being taught in K-12 schools.

[08:29:38]

It is also not about making white people feel bad about being white and yet it has become the catch-all for Republicans who want to use race as a tool as a political tool specifically. And if you take a look at what's been going on around the country, so far eight states have banned critical race theory but there are many more that are considering bans -- considering other kinds of restrictions about how race can be taught as a part of the history.

Is this just a catch-all for something that Republicans feel like is a necessary thing for them to stoke among their base going into 2022?

MCKEND: Yes. I think they think that these are issues -- whether it be critical race theory or banning transgender athletes from competing in girls and women's sports. They think that these hot button issues are ones that animate their base so they are leaning into this.

But you know, I think it's risky because it can be alienating. And it's not really based in reality, you know. Talking about systemic racism, talking about white supremacy is not the same thing and should not be conflated with critical race theory.

You know, here we are, we just celebrated Juneteenth, and while it was a wonderful thing, I'm wondering how is this going to be taught in schools?

PHILLIP: Right.

MCKEND: The context for future generations when we can't even have conversations about race.

PHILLIP: Right. There is a lot of irony there. Even in the unanimous senate vote on Juneteenth where some of these same Republicans are saying don't even teach about slavery and racism in school.

But, you know, P.K., you write this week that Republicans are not actually grappling with the Biden agenda. I mean, is this focus on critical race theory something that is a distraction from what they should be doing, or is it the best that they've got?

KANE: It is a little bit of both. They have -- there are senior Republicans that would like to focus a lot of their attention on the Biden agenda, the sort of Bernie Sanders agenda, the $6 trillion budget that we were just talking about, the fears of inflation.

But they are constantly getting pulled deeper into these culture wars in which you're not really talking about those bread and butter issues, where you're trying to win back suburban voters who have fled Republicans in the last five to ten years. It is hard to do.

With critical race theory there are some Republican strategists who think that, you know, it is kind of -- it's a scary sort of thing for suburban mothers so maybe they'll it can have some political bounce with that crowd.

It's hard to know. They'd really be much better off focusing on the agenda, really, by every measure possible, a really large, large spending proposals that, you know, have stoked real fears of inflation. But they're just not there yet.

COLLINS,: Well, and who is the king of all culture wars but former president, Trump?

PHILLIP: Right. And he is largely responsible for this focus.

COLLINS: Exactly. And that is why -- who drives the agenda? It's former president, Trump for the Republican Party. And he is responsible for driving so much of this because he watched someone on Fox News I think it was like a year ago, saw them talking about this, invited that person to the White House, had his budget director issue a memo essentially canceling all diversity training. That's something that President Biden rescinded on his first day in office. But recently when President Trump was speaking in North Carolina, that big speech, his big return to the stage, this is one of the loudest applause lines. And we were told by people that Trump was surprised by how much attention it got.

And he pays attention to these kind of things.

PHILLIP: Yes.

COLLINS: And he is like endorsing someone -- he listens to what gets the most applause. This got a lot of applause. So we are hearing that this is going to be something when he is making these appearances ahead of the midterms pushing this.

So it is going to be at the top of the agenda rather than inflation concerns.

PHILLIP: A year ago today Donald Trump was in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And interestingly, there is a new book coming out by Michael Bender of "The Wall Street Journal" that gives some insights into this.

He writes that in June, 2020 the White House aide -- the most senior Republican in the White House, J'Aron Smith -- senior black Republican I should say in the White House, was writing a proposal for Trump to make Juneteenth a federal holiday but the outcry over Trump's rally on the day that commemorated the end of slavery convinced Smith to shelve the plan.

Trump hadn't thought to ask his most senior black official about holding a rally on Juneteenth. He did it anyway. And then subsequently took up this banner of critical race theory. So these things are all related in many ways.

PACE: They're all related. And yes, Donald Trump I think has pushed culture wars to the forefront for Republicans. But this is a place that Republicans had been heading for quite sometime. Often they could wrap it in the mantle of a policy debate.

But Barack Obama being the first black president was really a step forward for Republicans in leaning into culture wars, what he represented.

Hillary Clinton as a woman who was running to be the first woman president also stoked a lot of the fears that we have seen among some people in this country who worry that women and people of color taking steps forward mean that they have to take a step back.

[08:34:47]

PACE: The problem right now is that Joe Biden is an older, white man. He is not a target personally in the same effective way that Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton were. So he creates a little bit more of a complication for them so they lean into things like critical race theory.

It's small things that bubble up in communities around the country and tried to make that representative of a larger change.

Democrats believe that this gives them an advantage because Biden isn't as personally offensive to some Republicans but they are going to keep pushing and trying to link him, of course, to all of these measures.

MCKEND: Yes, these attacks don't seem to stick to Biden. So as much as they try to make him sort of the bogeyman on the left it doesn't seem to be working.

Also we were talking about Juneteenth. I do want to note that not all Republicans in the House supported the designation. They take issue with us having two independence days. The term "independence" being in the title.

PHILLIP: Sure. Yes. They also take issue with the idea that federal employees should get another holiday.

MCKEND: Right.

PHILLIP: All of this is a smoke screen for the fact that they don't want Juneteenth to be a holiday.

But on Joe Biden, this is a candidate who was in the Democratic primary attacked for his ties to segregationists. I mean this is the flashback and then the reality that we witnessed this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We come to terms with the mistakes we've made. I think this will go down for me as one of the greatest honors I will have had as president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: He is now the one to sign Juneteenth into law as a federal holiday. It is a big turn-around for him.

COLLINS: Yes. And this is a huge ordeal. I feel like at times we're kind of glossing over the importance of making a federal holiday. It doesn't happen very easily. And it came together so quickly that I think it caught a lot of people off guard with Ron Johnson dropping his opposition to it.

But I think that line there from Biden was one of the most telling of his entire remarks where he was really reflecting on not just what it means for the nation and for the country but what it means for his legacy and saying it is one of the greatest honors that he thinks he's going to have as president is incredibly significant.

PHILLIP: Yes. It is incredibly significant. And it's incredibly significantly that this is the first Juneteenth weekend.

MCKEND: Yes.

PHILLIP: So happy Juneteenth to all of you.

And coming up next for us, in his own words one of the rioters about the election lies that fueled January 6th.

But first, here is one of the heroes of that day. Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman throwing out the first pitch at this Friday's Nationals game.

[08:37:36]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIP: In tonight's "CNN SPECIAL REPORT" senior investigative correspondent Drew Griffin sits down with congressional staffers, Capitol police, and rioters to talk about the motivations behind the January 6th attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COUY GRIFFIN, FOUNDER, COWBOYS FOR TRUMP: Are you saying that you don't think that there was any fraud at all in this last election?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATION CORRESPONDENT: I'm saying that all 50 secretaries of state who are in charge of elections, Republicans and Democrats, found no widespread fraud that could have tilted this election in any way, so I'm just wondering, where is the fraud?

C. GRIFFIN: Whenever you have the president of the United States making those statements --

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This was a massive fraud.

C. GRIFIFN: Senator Ted Cruz making those statements as well.

SENATOR TED CRUZ (R-TX): And We've seen in the last two months unprecedented allegations of voter fraud.

C. GRIFFIN: They hear a lot more. They're on upper level intelligence briefings.

Whenever you have those high ups saying that, yes, there is cheating, what do you do? You know?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: And, yet, that is all a lie. But new video from the Justice Department offers an up-close glimpse at the violent mob that believed those same election lies.

So, Kaitlan, this is the kind of thing that we are seeing now from all these different angles. The violent mobs attacking police, the bystanders watching it happen doing nothing. What is the significance of being able to see this now?

COLLINS: I think that is what is so stunning is to rewatch that. We lived it. We were all here when this was happening on January 6th. And to see -- I think people always relied on this idea that, well, there is evidence. There are facts. There is truth. And I can show you this video. You can listen to this. You can hear from the secretary of state to say this isn't true.

And yet people still believe it anyway. Like to see the evidence of that, and yet, people still believe that wasn't a violent day. That wasn't an insurrection. It wasn't an attack on the Capitol.

I think that the person Drew was interviewing there actually does make a really good point because it is that I'm listening to someone who is in a position of power telling me that this is real.

And I think that is what speaks to the disgrace is not the people who believe it necessarily because they are listening to people that they trust but it speaks to the disgrace of the former president and of senior Republicans who have continued to push this idea or allow it to be pushed and give it life when they know there is nothing behind it.

PHILLIP: Right. It's the people who do know better and are cynically using it for political purposes.

COLLINS: Yes.

PHILLIP: But this has all come full circle for former vice president Mike Pence who was at the Faith and Freedom Conference this weekend and was booed by Trump hecklers who called him a traitor for refusing to not certify the valid election results of the last election. I mean this is pretty extraordinary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- the senator's words. I am deeply humbled by them. Ralph Reed knows me well enough to know (INAUDIBLE) --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: If you are Mike Pence and you want to run for president in the future, is there even a chance?

[08:44:55]

PACE: It is difficult to see in the current climate in the Republican Party with the Republican base where Mike Pence's future lies. You know, this is somebody -- it's remarkable to see a moment like that. This is somebody who defended Donald Trump publicly over and over and over again in extraordinary moments and then fulfilled the most basic function of his job, which was to essentially just rubber stamp a free and fair election and is called a traitor for doing so.

Unless there is a sea change, unless the Republicans whip back to a place where people like Mitt Romney and Mitch McConnell, you know, in his more private moments want them to be, it is hard to see where Mike Pence fits into that equation.

MCKEND: There is no wiggle room. There has to be complete fidelity to Trump. You know who wasn't booed at that the conference? Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida. And he has never wavered. And you have to wonder what he would have done if he was in the former vice president's position.

PHILLIP: Well, we know what other Republicans in the House would have done. This is Congressman Louie Gohmert spewing some pretty ridiculous conspiracy theories on the House floor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LOUIE GOHMERT (R-TX): This is scary stuff. This is kind of Third World stuff. This is not only Third World stuff but this is like Putin kind of activity, you know.

So if there were federal agents that were involved on January 6th, we really need to know what the FBI knew and when they knew it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: This is the Republican party of 2021. Can Democrats use this as a political tool against them?

KANE: They have a chance. They have an opportunity. To answer Congressman Gohmert's question, yes. The FBI was there that day. I saw them. They were there. The FBI police was inside the capitol protecting us after they evacuated us out of the Senate.

There has been this concerted effort for four to five months now to try to white wash what happened that day. The people that voted against the Congressional Gold Medal for the Capitol police are opposed to using the word "insurrection" in the legislation. They have used terms like it's tourism. It really wasn't that bad.

And what the Justice Department is trying to do with these videos is to show the violence that happened.

Mike Pence is getting booed because on that day he would not violate the Constitution. Meanwhile, Eugene Goodman, who threw out the first pitch Friday night at Nats park was ushering a mob of people wearing shirts praising Auschwitz, carrying a confederate flag away from a room where Mike Pence and his wife and his daughter and brother were hiding behind Secret Service agents.

That is the through (ph) line here. It was not -- it was an insurrection. It wasn't some secret FBI effort.

PHILLIP: It is completely shameful that there was even one vote against recognizing the bravery of these Capitol Hill police officers. But here we are.

But coming up next for us, why New York City's Democrats may nominate a tough-on-crime ex-Republican for mayor.

[08:48:13]

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PHILLIP: New York City's mayoral candidates are making their closing pitches after months of clashes over crime, cops and COVID. Ex- Republican and retired cop Eric Adams is leading in the polls but top progressives hope that their late endorsements could boost their candidate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have an option of a candidate that has a lifetime of dedication to this. Racial justice, economic justice and climate justice, and that candidate is Maya Wiley.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: So Maya Wiley has taken the endorsement of AOC, others like Elizabeth Warren, Jamaal Bowman -- some big names in the progressive world. And yet this race has started to come down to whether or not progressives still have the juice in New York City.

PACE: Absolutely. I mean I think the thing to know about New York City is that nationally when we talk about New York it's painted as this very progressive, left-wing city but actually New York is quite diverse --

PHILLIP: Yes.

PACE: -- and this is a mayoral race so there are more sort of brass tacks issues on the table -- schools, public safety, roadways, infrastructure. Things that really are just about how people live their lives every day.

So I do think this a test for progressives on how they can make arguments about progressive values in a race like this to a city that is actually quite diverse.

PHILLIP: Yes. And the public safety thing has become a huge issue in New York. Rising crime across the country but in major cities like New York, it has been a real difference in people's, you know, standard of living, what they've come to expect from a city that is becoming extraordinarily safe.

And then you have someone like Eric Adams, a former cop saying, focusing almost --I assume maybe exclusively but focusing heavily on that issue.

MCKEND: That's right. There was a spike in shootings, I believe in the spring. And so this has become the defining issue of the mayor's race and I think the test is going to be what do New Yorkers want from their mayor?

Do they want someone like Maya Wiley, a progressive who wants to reallocate funds towards social programs and rethink policing or do they want a more traditional candidate like Adams who spent many years as a top cop?

PHILLIP: We're also in this situation where New York is dealing with ranked-choice voting for the first in the city -- for the first time. It's confusing. It's new.

I mean yesterday, you had Andrew Yang, one of the candidates, and Kathryn Garcia, sort of doing a joint endorsement. Andrew Yang says pick me as number one, pick her as number two. She didn't necessarily return the favor. But how is that going to throw a wrench into things?

KANE: Ranked-choice voting is really complicated and people who love ranked-choice voting hate when we say it's complicated.

If you're having a panel -- vote of your favorite panelists, Abby of course would be first by everybody and then you have to pick two, three, four, five. Everyone's going to vote --

PHILLIP: Everyone's going to vote for PK as number two. Oh --

(CROSSTALK)

KANE: I'll be voted for fifth. It really creates these odd alliances where you're trying to make sure that you at least are everybody's second choice. And so you don't want to go too negative in terms of your campaigning because you could alienate all of Eva's supporters or all of Kaitlan's supporters if you go negative and it creates this odd focus on how you're trying to get your votes.

And is Adams going to be a guy who gets a lot of first votes but not a lot of seconds?

PHILLIP: Not a lot of seconds, yes.

KANE: That's what they're hoping for.

PHILLIP: Yes.

[08:54:58]

COLLINS: And what's so fascinating -- I mean there are so many takeaways from this. Like what does it mean for the Democratic Party? What does it mean nationally?

But also just for New York. This is going to be likely a woman or a person of color that wins this race and New York has historically had mostly white male mayors. I think they've only had one black mayor in the history of all of their mayors.

And so it's still going to be fascinating to see how that changes and what it actually looks like in addition to whatever it spells out for the Democratic and the national elections (ph).

PHILLIP: And as a side part to that -- I mean one of the dramas of this weekend was Eric Adams basically saying that Andrew Yang and Kathryn Garcia were trying to prevent a person of color from becoming mayor. Andrew Yang fired back saying I've been an Asian-American my whole life.

So things are getting a little bit messy ahead of the New York City mayor's race this weekend.

Thank you all for joining us at the table this morning.

And that's it for INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. Join us back here every Sunday at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time and the weekday show as well at noon Eastern time.

But coming up next is "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. And Dana's guests this morning are White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Senator Bernie Sanders.

Thank you again for sharing your Sunday morning with us. Have a great rest of your day.

[08:56:11]

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