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President Biden Arrives In Brussels; Interview With Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA); Netanyahu Out As Israeli Prime Minister. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired June 13, 2021 - 15:00   ET

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


[15:00:31]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, happening right now, President Biden arriving in Brussels for the NATO Summit. Air Force One touching down just a few moments ago, after the President wrapped up the G7 in England. But before his departure from England, something only four other U.S. presidents have enjoyed, a private visit with the Queen at Windsor Castle for afternoon tea.

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

WHITFIELD: Overall, Biden is the 13th U.S. President to meet with the now, 95-year-old monarch. This moment also marking the Queen's first major engagement since the passing of Prince Philip in April, her husband of 73 years.

And as Biden moves into the NATO Summit in Brussels again, Air Force One there, which starts tomorrow, all attention will be focused on his upcoming face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. That's on Wednesday. Biden agreeing this morning with Putin's earlier remarks that the U.S. relationship with Russia is as bad as it's ever been.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me be clear, I think he is right. It's a low point, and it depends on how he responds to acting consistent with international norms, which in many cases he has not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Brussels for us. So, Jeff, the President expressing some optimism, however, ahead of his Putin meeting. What more did Biden have to say about what could be a high stakes summit between the two men?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN U.S. CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, it's definitely a high stakes meeting, the highest stakes meeting so far that this President has had since taking office. Of course, he has met Vladimir Putin before when he was Vice President, and this is an entirely different scenario. We are watching the arrival of Air Force One here, just touched down a

few moments ago here in Brussels, the President making his way here after the last four days in England, including today's visit, as you were mentioning with the Queen, but before he flew here, before leaving England, he had this to say about that meeting inside Windsor Castle with Queen Elizabeth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: She wanted to know what the two leaders that I -- the one I am about to meet with, Mr. Putin, and she wanted to know about -- she had -- about Xi Jinping and we had long talk and she was very generous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So he said, she also, he said reminded him of his mother, of course, she's a 95-year-old Queen there, but interesting that she also is a head of state. So, they did talk about President Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin in that meeting.

As President Biden moves forward through the NATO Summit tomorrow, of course, talking about strengthening alliances, really continuing the theme that he's been talking about for several days, the White House is looking forward and planning the Putin Summit in Geneva on Wednesday.

And President Biden was asked at a news conference earlier, what he is really expecting about that meeting, and if the Russian President can possibly change his behavior. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: It's about making myself very clear what the conditions are to get a better relationship with Russia. We're not looking for conflict. We are looking to resolve those actions, which we think are inconsistent with international norms.

There is no guarantee you can change a person's behavior in favor of his country. Autocrats have enormous power and they don't have to answer to a public.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, certainly the expectations, the stakes are very high for the Wednesday meeting. Unclear what exactly tangible will come out of that, but as we are seeing, President Biden there on the tarmac here in Brussels, meeting with some European Union leaders there, as he really returns to NATO.

This is someplace where he has been over so many years the course of his career as Vice President, as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but NATO really speaks to his belief in these strengthening the Transatlantic Alliance that he believes was frayed under the former President.'

[15:05:23] ZELENY: And, you know, we've seen over the last four years, President

Trump really diminishing the importance and the value of NATO. President Biden is going to lift NATO up. He is going to renew Americans' commitment to Article 5. What that is, of course, is an attack on one is an attack on all.

After 9/11, of course, so many allied nations came to the aid of the U.S. So, those are some of the top things they will be talking about tomorrow as we're watching him, and now getting into the limousine having a bit of a private conversation here before his motorcade makes its way into central Brussels here.

So, Fredricka, certainly this is Part 2 of the continuation of his first trip abroad. The White House really believes that the first part of the trip was a success. The leaders of the G7 nations released a communique, as they call it, earlier today, really calling out China in some respects and also calling for a stronger investigation -- an independent investigation -- into the origins of COVID-19.

So, this is the second part of the President's agenda, speaking to NATO tomorrow here in Brussels, the E.U. Summit on Tuesday, and then flying on Tuesday to Geneva for that one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He is also now alone for the rest of his trip. First Lady Jill Biden, who had been with him for the first part of the trip, she is flying back to Washington right now and he will be spending the next four days here in Europe and returning, at least scheduled to on Wednesday back to the White House.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jeff, you've taken care of all my follow-up questions without me having to ask a follow-up question, but I appreciate it.

And it really does seem like the President is, you know, taking his time reveling in the fact that he is in familiar territory. He has done a lot of this before as the Vice President, for the first time now as the Commander-in-Chief and taking advantage of every moment possible to have one-on-one, seem to put others at ease, just as he looks very much at ease meeting there on the tarmac with the European Allied Union members, as you mentioned there, and now, going off to what will be a pretty robust next few days in preparation for what will be that high-stakes meeting with Vladimir Putin of Russia on Wednesday.

Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much, joining us from Brussels.

All right, one of the major points of contention between the U.S. and Russia is the recent ransomware attacks, targeting important U.S. infrastructure. Well, today Putin said Russia is prepared to extradite cybercriminals to the U.S. on a reciprocal basis. President Biden replying with this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Yes, I'm open to -- if there's crimes committed against Russia -- that in fact, the people committing those crimes being harbored in the United States, I'm committed to holding them accountable.

And I heard that. I was told as I was flying here that he said that. I think that's potentially a good sign of progress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, joining me right now, California Democratic Congressman Ami Bera who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. So good to see you, Congressman. So, what do you think about that?

So, the two seemingly in agreement ahead of their meeting on Wednesday, do you believe that's promising?

REP. AMI BERA (D-CA): You know, at least it's a starting point. I certainly don't fully expect Vladimir Putin to hold some of these cyber criminals, because they obviously are operating --

WHITFIELD: So, you see, there is a catch possibly.

BERA: I think there's a catch here.

WHITFIELD: OK. President Biden agreeing that the relationship between the U.S. and Russia is indeed frayed. It's at a low point. What do you believe needs to come from their meeting, to perhaps bring some promise between relations? I mean, Putin put it this way, he said, a deterioration between the U.S. and Russia. What do you think could potentially come out of this meeting that would solidify things better?

BERA: You know, I think it really is at a low point. You've seen Russian aggression, and expansion of their ambitions. I think the fact that he met with the G7, he is now in Brussels to meet with NATO tomorrow, and then on to Geneva with Vladimir Putin, I think it's a starting point.

I mean, if you can create a context in a coalition and open that dialogue, but I think will take a while. I mean, they are still talking about the cyber issues that are still unresolved, Ukraine remains unresolved, and Crimea, we are seeing what's happening in the Baltic states.

So, there's a lot on the table. But again, I appreciate that the Biden administration for willing to engage in this dialogue and has started to.

[15:10:11]

BERA: One of your colleagues on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ranking Member, Michael McCaul had this to say this morning about the U.S. relationship with Russia. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): Well, I think -- I think we need to demonstrate, and the President needs to demonstrate to Putin, there will be consequences to your actions if you continue to do this. They have been mounting this up in the last month, and extraordinarily, I think sanctions are great, but I think it's time to start thinking about hitting back.

When we do attribution, we need to have rules of the road. I passed a cyber-diplomacy bill out of my committee. We need -- they need to know that when they do this, there are consequences to their actions, and we're going to hit them back.

Until we do that, they're going to continue with bad behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Do you agree?

BERA: You know, I certainly agree with the ranking member, Mr. McCaul that there has to be consequences to action. There's got to be some reciprocity. Again, you know, we saw the four years of the Trump administration, how they just essentially let Russia do whatever they wanted.

So, we're starting at that point. And again, I think the Biden administration certainly will consider what reciprocal actions are proportionate.

WHITFIELD: The approach still verify, then trust. Right?

BERA: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: All right, so, the NATO is about to get underway tomorrow. Biden wrapping up G7. There seem to be a collective sigh of relief during the G7 Summit and even expressed release relief from some leaders who said, you know, it's good to see the U.S. is back and it looks like there is going to be some real cooperation.

Do you consider this to have been a very important reset? And how might this assist the U.S. on the global stage?

BERA: Absolutely. I think that the G7 Summit was a success for the Biden administration. You saw President Macron, and others talk about, you know, "The U.S. is back." And I think the communique really does outline a lot of victories, not just for us, but for democratic values. And in that communique, you see the term "values" and I think coalitions are coming together on values of democracy, human rights, free markets and the rule of law.

And, you know, that's the restoration of the transatlantic relationship you've seen in the previous months, the administration restoring transpacific relations. You've seen the state visits by the Prime Minister Suga from Japan and President Moon from Korea. So, this is a very ambitious foreign policy agenda. But they've got to repair the damage that was done under the Trump administration where it was a go it alone.

WHITFIELD: I want to shift gears, speaking of the Trump administration, now published reports and sources coming out talking about the Department of Justice, looking into leakers, looking into its own administration, looking into Members of Congress to find out who knew what, when, where, the retrieval of phone numbers, and information about a number of Members of Congress, even a minor. Where are you on this? And do you believe, indeed, that any kind of subpoena of the Attorneys General Barr or Sessions will bear any fruit?

BERA: You know, I think these were outrageous actions and another piece of evidence of the abuse of power of the Trump administration. How we looked at the Justice Department as his own personal vigilante and his own personal lawyers.

I'm glad that Attorney General Garland is having an Inspector General take a look at this. I certainly hope the Senate Judiciary that said they're going to take a look and investigate this. We've got to get to the bottom of this. And, you know, I can't imagine that there is any way that Attorney General Sessions or Attorney General Barr didn't know what was going if in fact this was happening.

And yes, we've got to hold them accountable, and I would be open to subpoenaing them and having them testify.

WHITFIELD: All right, Congressman Ami Bera, we'll leave it there for now. Good to see you. Thank you so much.

BERA: Good to see you. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And this breaking news we're following out of Israel, a historic change of power, Benjamin Netanyahu out as Prime Minister. So, how stable is this new coalition? And how will it affect Israel's relationship with the United States?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we've got breaking news right now out of Israel. After 12 years in power, Benjamin Netanyahu is out as Prime Minister of Israel. The razor thin vote happening just a short time ago. Taking over is a coalition led by Netanyahu's own former Chief of Staff, Naftali Bennett.

Addressing Israel's Parliament, Bennett defended his wide-ranging coalition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAFTALI BENNETT, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ((through translator)): Two times in our history, we lost our Jewish home exactly because leaders of the previous generation refused to sit with one another. I am proud to sit with people with different opinions.

At the decisive moment, we took responsibility. We took responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's bring in Aaron David Miller. He is a former Middle East peace negotiator and he spent more than two decades working in the U.S. State Department under several Presidents. Aaron, it is so good to see you.

AARON DAVID MILLER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Good to see you.

[15:20:02]

WHITFIELD: In his final days, Netanyahu claimed election fraud and has vowed to take down Naftali, again his former Chief of Staff, so how stable is this new coalition?

MILLER: Well, the rhetoric sounds all too familiar, Fred. And there's -- you know, Netanyahu is not going away. He is going to go into the opposition. There won't be an Israeli Mar-a-Lago. He is going into the opposition. He will head the largest and most coherent political party in the country, Likud, and he will be plotting and pushing and pressing in an effort to embarrass this government and any chance he gets and waiting eagerly to pick up the pieces, if, in fact, it collapses.

WHITFIELD: So, will he be a significant force against this coalition where I read this is what it's made up of, this unlikely coalition of parties from the right, center, left of Israeli spectrum, and for the first time, including an independent from an Arab party. That kind of diversity sounds strong. But you're saying, it is possibly not up against Netanyahu and the opposition party?

MILLER: Well, no, I think that there are several features of this government that actually may allow it to endure longer than the conventional analysis would suggest. First of all, there's mutually assured destruction is really a style. Both Bennett and Lapid, who will rotate, Bennett first as Prime Minister, and if you make it through two years plus, then Lapid will become Prime Minister. They have vetoes over major issues.

Number two, all of these parties understand that the reason they are together now, bringing to an end, a decade and more of Netanyahu's reign, is in large part because of him, and they are absolutely determined to keep him at bay.

They also know that this is political oblivion for many of them if they don't make this government work. I mean, the Prime Minister, Fred, for the first time in the history of -- the political history of Israel has six seats. Usually a Prime Minister represents one of the two major parties or a third party and has significant seats. Bennett has six, so he is going to have to cooperate in order to survive.

WHITFIELD: And Bennett publicly thanked President Biden today for his support of Israel during the recent conflict in Gaza. Netanyahu's tone in his outgoing speech, well, let's say was a little different. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The Prime Minister in Israel must be able to say no to the President of the U.S. in topics that are threats to our existence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, is Biden the linchpin here?

MILLER: Well, it's a big break for Biden, there is no doubt, and you'll notice, it took him more than three weeks, a better part of a month after he became President in order to reach out to the former Prime Minister, Mr. Netanyahu, I think within hours.

If I'm correct of Naftali Bennett's government being sworn in, the President issued a statement congratulating him. You know, Biden knows he caught a break. He caught a break because Bennett is not going to play to the Republican base. He caught a break because Bennett is not going to play to the evangelicals. And he caught a break because I really think Bennett has no interest or there's no margin for him in picking a fight with the United States.

He has come across as very tough against the Iran Nuclear Agreement. But he will not do what Netanyahu does -- did -- in order to undermine it. So, Biden will have some breathing room, and it's a good thing. He's got a lot of headaches at home to manage.

WHITFIELD: So, what kind of leadership do you see in a Prime Minister Bennett? Because already, I mean, it's publicly stated that he opposes a Palestinian state, believes Israel should annex much of the occupied West Bank.

MILLER: Very little movement on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, Fred. I mean, the issues are just too tough, the coalition way too diverse and too unwieldy. A lot of movement, and you referred to it in the opening with respect to the Palestinian citizens of Israel, you now have for the first time in the history, Israel's political history, a small -- admittedly -- Arab party formerly participating in the government, when a month ago, you had the worst communal violence between Israeli Jews and Arabs since the state was created. So, that I think is very hopeful, and I think it's very good news.

Second, the Israelis really do need to lower the temperature. They have been held hostage by a man who used elections in order to beat his convictions. He remains on trial, Mr. Netanyahu, so I think the temperature is going to go down and I think this government will get to focus on issues regarding the economy, health, infrastructure -- that sounds very familiar, too -- in an effort to demonstrate that in effect, there is not only life after Benjamin Antonio, there could be progress as well.

WHITFIELD: Add one more thing to the familiarity transitions, we are learning that former Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will not hold a traditional handover ceremony with the newly elected Prime Minister Bennett, but will hold a private meeting instead. What does that say to you?

[15:25:11]

MILLER: Well, again, echoes of a situation --

WHITFIELD: A lot of familiarity going on here. MILLER: I mean, yes. I mean, I've voted for Republican and Democrats

and worked for them, but the reality is that Mr. Netanyahu cannot simply abide in defeat to participate. He will see the new Prime Minister in a private meeting afterwards, but no rituals for this guy.

WHITFIELD: Aaron David Miller, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

MILLER: Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, still to come, the nation's gun violence problem getting worse by the day, at least eight people killed, 48 injured this weekend alone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It just seems to worsen this weekend, eight people killed and another 48 wounded in mass shootings across the U.S. The Gun Violence Archive says that the country is on track for the worst year since it started gathering data. Natasha Chen has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The number of people killed by guns in America continued to rise this weekend, as did the scourge of mass shootings, at least eight of them this weekend across the U.S.

DETRIC LEGGETT, DISTRICT 2 ALDERMAN, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA: I am broken right now because I'm trying to figure out what do we do? So, my conversation with my Police Chief and City Manager, how do -- how do we -- how do we fix this? Because right now, I need an answer and I have to answer to all of these residents who we told them, that you know, we're going to protect them.

CHEN (voice over): In Savannah, Georgia, a shooting Friday night killed one person and injured at least eight others, including a two- year-old and 13-year-old.

CHIEF ROY MINTER, SAVANNAH POLICE: And they're still very hesitant about providing information this time, even though one of the shooting victims is an 18-month-old infant.

CHEN (voice over): Savannah was hardly alone. There have also been mass shootings this weekend in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, and Winston Salem, North Carolina.

In 2021, there have been more than 270 mass shootings, according to Gun Violence Archive, where at least four people were injured or killed, not including the shooter. That's about 40 percent higher than at this point in June 2020 and about 65 percent higher than this time in 2019.

Local leaders say this problem relates to regional gun policies, but there has to be a more comprehensive solution. MAYOR VAN JOHNSON, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA: The reality is in Georgia, we

can't be mad the guns are everywhere when Georgia law allows guns to be everywhere. But we also realize that guns are inanimate objects.

And so we now need to have stronger gun laws in Georgia and nationally, but what we also need to have is to teach our young people better decision making.

CHEN (voice over): That inability to solve problems without violence is what drives the mission of the onePULSE Foundation formed after 49 people were killed at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando exactly five years ago.

Pulse owner Barbara Poma, now CEO of onePULSE Foundation talked about waking up on the fifth anniversary of the tragedy, only to hear news of more mass shootings overnight.

BARBARA POMA, CEO, ONEPULSE FOUNDATION: There is a gun violence problem. There is a hate problem. And I don't know where it turned from being bullied at school to going home and crying and finding ways to resolve that, right? And then going home to get your parents' gun and going back to your place of work when you're disgruntled. When did that become the decision? Like when we did that societal shift happen?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHEN (on camera): Poma was among the speakers here last night at the Pulse interim memorial marking the fifth anniversary of that shooting along with others in this community. She told me the goal going forward in her eyes is to have people work toward the gray and not fight with each other as if everything is in black and white -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Natasha Chen, thank you so much for that. So, one of those shootings happened in downtown Austin, Texas in one of the city's busiest nightlife areas. Fourteen people were hurt and police say one suspect has been arrested and another remains at large.

Ed Lavandera joins us now. So Ed, what are you learning about this investigation?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Austin Police have not responded to our request for more information on the shooting from early Saturday morning. They have been tight lipped. The last we had heard is that one suspect had been arrested and that the Mayor of Austin said that they were close to -- getting closer to the second suspect that Austin Police say they were looking for.

However, we just haven't heard any other updates since we heard that from the Mayor yesterday afternoon. But the shooting took place early Saturday morning in this 6th Street area of Austin, which is one of the iconic entertainment districts here in the city.

There was a biker rally going on. So, you can imagine the streets here filled with motorcycles, filled with people and that actually affected the response to that because in the chaos of that scene, the two suspects were able to elude police and get out of this area. So, the manhunt for that person continues. We are told by

investigators that they have been combing through video surveillance from various businesses and bars here in the area, looking for video footage to identify the suspects. But it sounds like that they believe that this was an incident that took place between two people with bad blood between them and that the officers do not believe that the people around the area, the wounded, the 14 people that were wounded weren't necessarily targeted by the gunmen.

But exactly how all of this unfolded in why it unfolded is not clear. But what is really striking here, Fredricka, is just how quickly things get back to normal, even in a shooting scenario like this where 14 people are wounded. Last night, it was business as usual here on 6th Street, and much of the day, everything just going on and carrying on as if nothing happened, honestly -- Fredricka.

[15:35:23]

WHITFIELD: Still so tragic. All right, Ed Lavandera thank you so much in Austin, Texas.

All right, still ahead, new details about members of Trump's inner circle that the Department of Justice is looking into as part of their dragnet for phone and e-mail records as they investigated White House leaks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Today, more details emerging about the D.O.J.'s secret data seizures under the Trump administration. Apple confirming that the D.O.J. sought records for former White House Counsel Don McGahn and his wife back in 2018. This comes after we learned that Trump's D.O.J. secretly subpoenaed Apple and Microsoft for metadata on 73 phone numbers and 36 e-mail addresses including several Members of Congress and at least one minor.

CNN crime and justice reporter, Katelyn Polantz is with us now. So, Katelyn, what more do we know about this investigation in Don McGahn and where it's all leading?

[15:40:24]

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Fred, what we have here seems to be a set of very unusual steps taken by the Justice Department and a game of not it on who had signed off on these various subpoenas that we've learned about over the past few days, including today.

So right now, we don't know a lot about what was being investigated, or who was being targeted with the subpoenas, whether it was McGahn and people on the Hill, and we also are learning from our sources that the people in charge of the Justice Department at the time, Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein, weren't aware of this subpoena sweeping up Don McGahn's data and his wife's data, and this wasn't coming from the Mueller investigation, which was active at that time and around this circle. ' Here's what we do know. We do know that Apple did receive a subpoena for McGahn's data and his wife's data in February of 2018. That was a really intense moment in the Trump years. It was when Donald Trump, right around the time Donald Trump was telling his White House Counsel McGahn to get rid of the special counsel. McGahn was refusing to do that. Trump was ordering him to lie about that scenario.

And then McGahn became a very important witness in the Mueller investigation regarding whether the President had obstructed justice and the steps that Trump had taken there. At that same period of time, what we learned earlier this week was that this was the period that the Justice Department was also subpoenaing the records of the House Intelligence Committee members, Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff, who are both Democrats.

So, all of this is sort of just an environment where we are learning different things about subpoenas, but we don't really have a lot of context. The other thing we've learned is that there was gag orders over this McGahn request or subpoena for his data that kept it private from him until now, until the new administration. So that was kept secret for a full three years, which is also a little bit unusual, specifically in this case.

Now, I really should say that this may have been a legitimate leak investigation or another type of investigation for getting the data of McGahn, and also the people on the Hill. But at the same time, Members of Congress, the White House counsel and the news media, which was another group where we've seen orders for information regarding investigations and having gag orders over those. Those are people that enjoy special privileges.

And so it usually does need to go through the upper channels of the Justice Department, if there are investigators seeking that sort of records or even obtaining them.

WHITFIELD: And because there are still so many curiosities, Democrats are calling for subpoenas, for testimonies coming from the Attorneys General Barr and Sessions. Is that likely to happen?

POLANTZ: Well, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and his counterpart on the House side, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, they are both calling for testimony. Here is Schumer in New York this morning at a press conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Sessions and Barr must testify under oath as part of a formal congressional investigation, because of this -- because this revelation that the Trump Justice Department subpoenaed personal phone data of Members of Congress, including a minor, that those revelations are just shocking.

This was nothing less than a gross abuse of power, an assault on the separation of powers.

(END VIDEO CLIP) POLANTZ: Now, in this situation, there could be subpoenas that go to

these former officials, it is very possible we would see some sort of legal battle over that. There have been people at the top of the Trump administration who are fighting, claiming absolute immunity for years to protect them from testifying to Congress.

Don McGahn himself was the latest person where we just saw him get before a House -- the House Committee, there's also the Inspector General in the Justice Department who wants to review these, but he doesn't have the subpoena power for these former officials and can't compel them to explain what happened and what they knew -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Katelyn Polantz in Washington. Thanks so much.

All right, still ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: She wanted to know what the two leaders that I -- about one I am about to meet with, Mr. Putin. And she wanted to know about Xi Jinping and we had a long talk and she was very generous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Curiosities from the Queen. President Biden telling reporters about his visit with Queen Elizabeth II today, more on what they talked about.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:48:17]

WHITFIELD: Well, this has been quite a first trip abroad for the U.S. Commander-in-Chief. Lots of smiles and commitments made among the leaders of the world's richest countries at the G7 in England, and then today, President Biden wrapped up his trip to England with tea at Windsor Castle, at Queen Elizabeth's invitation.

The President describing the Queen as extremely gracious after he, and Dr. Jill Biden spent about an hour with Her Majesty at Windsor Castle.

And by the way, it's only the fifth time a U.S. President has been invited to Windsor Castle. So, this is quite the invite.

CNN royal correspondent, Max Foster joining us now from Windsor Castle.

So Max, is it me or did it seem as though the Queen really has been enjoying herself today and over the last few days? We saw a lot of smiles coming from her.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, she has been really busy. She had a birthday at another event here at Windsor the day before and then of course she was in Cornwall as well having fun and raising some laughs. She is in very good spirits. She is very aware of her abilities there. I have to say, Fredricka,

you know often with these political events, they get very heavy, very divisive, and her job is to come in and unify people, really. And she often can do that by lifting the mood.

Also, she can lay it all on, can't she in the way that she did today, as you say a huge honor to be invited for tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle. The Biden's were given an official welcome. There was the National Anthem played by the Grenadier Guards. This is a huge honor.

Would you believe this is not a -- this is the Queen being formed -- informal really -- it wasn't the full stage occasion, but it has all the ceremonial that came with that. Then the President was invited to inspect the Guards as well and that was an honor for them because these British troops are in battle overseas quite often. They are working with U.S. forces, particularly in Iraq.

[15:50:11]

FOSTER: So, they were very keen to have that moment. And then they went inside for what was meant to be a private tea. All we got was a photo in terms of pictures coming out of that, something I'm sure will appear on the Biden's mantle-piece as the photo, every head of state really wants, because she is the longest serving one and so much history there.

But normally, Fredricka, as you know, these conversations are meant to be really private.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh, look at that smile.

FOSTER: But there he was, President Biden revealing all.

WHITFIELD: Okay, I like -- I'm admiring the photo here. Hey, and so, you know, back to the inspecting of the Guard, Max, we saw the President was doing it alone. Customarily, the Queen would be in company. Do we know whether, you know that was a choice because of how she is feeling or was there something particular about this ceremony? Why was she not walking with President Biden during this moment?

FOSTER: Well, let's think back to the last time she tried that and that was with the previous President and he walked in front of her -- everything in the photo.

WHITFIELD: How could we forget?

FOSTER: To be fair to President Trump, it was always the Prince Philip that would lead these moments with inspections and he knew exactly what he was doing, a big military man, and the Queen stepped in on that occasion because he was retired. Of course, he's not here now, and what they did was evolve the process to now the Commanding Officer helped Mr. Biden today, which is why it was so smooth.

WHITFIELD: Okay, all right. I knew there was a story, I knew you would know the answer. So, there you go. Max Foster, you're the best. Thank you so much from Windsor Castle.

FOSTER: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:55:14]

WHITFIELD: The 105th class of the Pulitzer Prize winners have been announced and among them, Darnella Frazier, the young lady who recorded George Floyd's murder. She has been given an honorary Pulitzer Prize. The Pulitzers are some of the most prestigious awards in American journalism. Frazier was just 17 years old when she captured this image of former police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressing his knee into Floyd's neck for over nine minutes.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz publicly thanked Frazier after Chauvin's conviction, saying she was maybe the only reason he was going to jail.

Frazier says her life was forever changed by that moment, and she has suffered from sleeplessness, anxiety and panic attacks in the aftermath. You heard her testify about that, and you also saw it in her op-eds that she has written.

Well, tonight, W. Kamau Bell is back with an all new episode of "United Shades of America." And in this week's season finale -- season finale -- Kamau is traveling to Dallas, Texas, to learn more about the experiences of the black transgender community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND STYLZ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF BLACK TRANS WOMEN, INC: That's why we don't trust the law. That's why we don't go to the law. The law doesn't protect us in that way.

W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST, "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA" (voice over): Diamond Stylz is the Executive Director of Black Trans Women, Inc., a national nonprofit that is focused on advocacy and positive visibility.

Avatara Smith Carrington is an attorney focusing on systemic trans discrimination.

AVATARA SMITH CARRINGTON, ATTORNEY: If you are a black trans person, and you apply for a job and get it and you experience discrimination, you're just kind of like out of luck. Okay, you lost income. Let's talk about housing discrimination.

BELL (voice over): There are currently 21 states with no housing anti- discrimination laws to protect trans people from being unfairly evicted or denied housing.

CARRINGTON: You can go to a shelter, but then in some places, you're not guaranteed access to that shelter. STYLZ: I've been through that where I couldn't go to a women's

shelter. I couldn't go to a men's shelter. And I couldn't go to the LGBT shelter because I was HIV positive.

CARRINGTON: Exactly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh. W. Kamau Bell, joining me now live. Oh, boy, you learned a lot there, and I just did, too, in that moment. You talked to a number of black transgender women in Dallas for this episode, and obviously, everyone's experience and journeys, you know, are unique and different. But were there common threads in my experiences?

BELL: Yes, I would say the common thread is that despite the law working against them, despite society working against them, they are all demanding that they are seen and thrive in this society. So, I think that we didn't really want to -- we didn't want to overly focus on the things that a lot of times you see the media, the violence, we do talk about that.

But really, we want to show how people are living and that's a common thread.

WHITFIELD: And then among the things that they are facing, while living, the threat of physical violence. I mean, that's something that many transgender people have to deal with, are confronted by. You met with the family and friends of one outspoken black trans woman who was killed in a hate crime. What does her story tell you about the outright danger many black trans women are facing?

BELL: Well, I think that a lot of times, black trans women feel like that when we talk about Black Lives Matter, we are not talking about black trans lives. And so, they feel like they have to get their own backs, and I think what we're trying to say is that we need to be inclusive.

This whole episode is about inclusion, and really, we need to be more inclusive of their stories. And so I as a cisgender, black man, you notice in that clip, I didn't say a lot. I'm sitting there learning so that I can then talk to other people about it, who are not in that community.

WHITFIELD: What do you -- what are you hoping that people are going to learn? What will be revealed to people to enlighten them?

BELL: I mean, I think, your assumptions are wrong, I think generally that's what a lot of -- if you don't know black trans people, if you're not hanging out with the transgender community, your assumptions are usually a hundred percent wrong.

And so just sit back, I've talked to a lot of people on social media, fought with some people about what they think is going on in the black trans community or the transgender community as a whole and your assumptions are wrong. You've got an hour tonight to just sit back and learn.

WHITFIELD: Reveal and educate. All right, W. Kamau Bell, always good to see you. Thank you so much. Thank you for bringing these tremendous stories.

All right, I like it.

BELL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, be sure to tune in to an all new episode of "United Shades of America" with W. Kamau Bell. It airs tonight at 10:00 p.m. only on CNN.

All right, thank you so much for joining me today and this whole weekend. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

The CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Jim Acosta.

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