let's hand it over to michael smerconish in for chris. >> i am michael smerconish in for chris cuomo.t juneteenth federal holiday complete with its own flag hoisted in places like wisconsin. the single white star symbolizing texas where the last enslaved people were told they were free and the freedom of all african-americans in this couny.

van jones and michael smerconish. mike, do you see it the way i lay it out or am i missing something? >> i want you to think about something additionally, and it's this. there's no love lost between mitch mcconnell and donald trump, as you just made reference to. we could say the same thing relative to kevin mccarthy and donald trump, because of the comments that he made post-january-6th. in the case of mcconnell, he just bypassed an opportunity, a golden opportunity, to do harm to former president trump. he could have gotten on board or at least gotten out of the way with regard to a january 6th commission. there is no way such a commission report could come back and be anything other than devastating for trump. but he didn't do that, chris. why didn't he do that? well, the answer that most people say is, he didn't want a report to come out on the cusp of the midterm election. i see it differently. to your point, i think mcconnell recognized all this that you're discussing has gone too far. it's gone too far with the

let's hand it over to michael smerconish in for chris. >> i am michael smerconish in for chris cuomo. welcome to the first juneteenth federal holiday complete with its own flag hoisted in places like wisconsin. the single white star symbolizing texas where the last enslaved people were told they were free and the freedom of all african-americans in this country. it was a texas lawmaker today who reminded us that while one battle for equality is finely finished, others are in limbo right now in congress. >> we steadfastly worked day after day for 12 years and it says that you voted for this holiday, now you can vote for the george floyd justice in policing act. you can fix the voting system to give us voting rights to protect against those voter suppression laws. >> but the sweeping voting rights bill s1, it's frozen. while moderate senator joe manchin waives the flag of bipartisanship, the fate of his counter proposal to federal democrats might be a foregone conclusion. minority leader mitch mcconnell seems more intent on acting like a blockade. >> equally unacceptable. totally inappr

michael smerconish, thank you. and i always remind people, smerconish airs tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. eastern, right here on cnn. his radio show, on sirius xm, the potus channel, is the best-morning listening you can make. >>> now, house republican leader, and trump appeaser, kevin mccarthy, is at it again. he tweeted this today, in response to the former president's facebook ban. they fueled lies of russian collusion. they targeted and censored his followers. and now, they're blocking him for another-two years. now, remember, five months to the day of january 6th is today. and that was a big part of what facebook's reconciling. yet, mccarthy is exhibit a of the negative impact that trump had. because of what he said happened on that day. and guess who has new information for us? brian stelter. he has the updated paper book of his book -- the paperback of his book "hoax" donald trump, fox news, and the dangerous distortion of truth. and he has new details that prove that mccarthy is the last guy who should be sa

. >> you were on cnn this weekend with my colleague, michael smerconish and raised real concerns aboutally, underneath the pool deck that continues on. that was your initial concern. now, seeing what you have seen from this 2018 report, how many questions does that add to you about that part of the structure? >> two thing. one is the video of the collapse itself, which is clear that the collapse started at the bottom. and the second is reports -- there were reports also of deterioration of the water cooling in the slab of the pool deck. and those two things taken together, and also the -- the reports of the condition of the structure, those things, when you begin to put them all together, seem to indicate there's a possible failure of maybe a column at the intersection of the deck and the buil building. >> aren't buildings, especially 40 years old built with a number of redundancies, fail safe mechanisms? >> in this kind of a structure, redid you know dancy isn't as strong as other insstructures. to look at the way the failure occurred, the failure really occurred to the east portion o

i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia. we haven't even yet reached the traditional summer spike in crime. yet, last night alone, 13 were injured in a shooting in downtown austin. in savannah, georgia, one person was killed and eight others were wounded in another shooting. major u.s. cities already experiencing historic murder rates after 2020, saw 33% increase in homicides. in the first three months of this year, the homicide rate in more than 30 u.s. cities increased by 24% and gun assaults increased by 22% compared to the same time period in 2020. look at atlanta where homicide are up nearly 60% in 2021. los angeles, homicide increased nearly 27% since 2020. here in philadelphia, as of may 21, homicide year-to-date are up 38%. this unprecedented increase in violence coincides with a push for police accountability in the wake of george floyd's murder. one example of a policing policy overhaul can be found right here in philadelphia in a three-month pilot program aimed at overcoming racial bias. police officers in northwe

i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia with a question -- how did a novel back coronavirus get to 11when most bats were hibernating and turn a market where bats weren't sold into the epi center of an outbreak? when asked that way, the lab leak theory of the origin of covid-19, it sounds quite plausible. a newly released investigative piece in "vanity fair" raises that question and a lot more. this analysis has accelerated a conversation long overdue and it tells the story how a loose network of sleuths of investigator scientific expertise spread around the globe, under took an

i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia. summer spike in crime. yet, last night alone, 13 were injured in a shooting in downtown austin. in savannah, georgia, one person was killed and eight others were wounded in another shooting. major u.s. cities already experiencing historic murder rates after 2020, saw 33% increase in homicides. in the first three months of this year, the homicide rate in more than 30 u.s. cities increased by 24%

i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia. that was the warning three years ago by an engineer brought in to analyze the florida complex where 159 people are still unaccounted for. cnn has learned that the structural field service report from 2018 points out evidence of flooding, cracking, and corrosion. this report didn't give any indication that the building would collapse and an attorney for the champlain towers condo association told cnn they weren't privy to any information that would have foreshadowed thursday's disaster. but here's what part of the report by frank moore bito revealed as outlined by "the new york times." at the ground level of the complex, vehicles can drive in next to a pool deck where residents would lounge in the sun. the report's author said in 2018 said that the waterproofing below the pool deck and entrance drive was failing, quote, causing major structural damage to the concrete structural slab below these areas. the report added that, quote, failure to replace the waterproofing in the near future

michael smerconish. good to see you, brother. right or wrong? >> it's hard to give you a direct answer. here is the reason why. he deserved to be punished. i think that he incited the events of january 6th. but facebook is managing a fire hose. they cannot keep track of all of the content from the 3 billion, think about that, nearly 3 billion users worldwide so by definition singling him out for a treatment and punishment they can't apply evenly and by that definition it is unfair. >> look, certainly practically it is going to play to his advantage within his base because i think people who don't like him won't really care. it is not going to change their feelings. the people who do like him now have another layer to him being a victim. what is facebook? no shirt no shoes no service is what a business has the right to but is facebook more like a restaurant or more like at&t? or sprint or verizon where they are using something that belongs to everybody, the internet, and providing access? what are they? >> i am so glad you raised that because ear

i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia with a question -- how did a novel back coronavirus get to 11 million people in central china in the dead of winter when most bats were hibernating and turn a market where bats weren't sold into the epi center of an outbreak? when asked that way, the lab leak theory of the origin of covid-19, it sounds quite plausible. a newly released investigative piece in "vanity fair" raises that question and a lot more. this analysis has accelerated a conversation long overdue and it tells the story how a loose network of sleuths of investigator scientific expertise spread around the globe, under took an examination of a theory of covid origin was that originally discounted by those whose job it was to figure it all out. together they formed a group called drastic to investigate covid-19. one founder was a data scientist who works for a bank in new zealand whose asperger syndrome gives him a professional advantage in finding patterns in data. but while he was building a plausible case for a all about leak, more than two dozen scientists released a statement

i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia.ears ago by an engineer brought in to analyze the florida complex where 159 people are still unaccounted for. cnn has learned that the structural field service report from 2018 points out evidence of flooding, cracking, and corrosion. this report didn't give any indication that the building would collapse and an attorney for the champlain towers condo association told cnn they weren't privy to any information that would have foreshadowed thursday's disaster. but here's what part of the report by frank moore bito

smerconish right here on cnn. "don lemon tonight" starts right now. >>> michael, how are you? i never thought i would be saying happy juneteenth. but here we are, in 2021, and finally, we are celebrating at least a national holiday, or marking the end of slavery. >> and it's a good thing. and i think, you know, the acceptance by -- one of those rare issues, don, about which, it seems like the congress, the house, and the senate, were able to come together and that's a great thing because we see so little of it, these days. >> yeah. and i will be watching your coverage on the actual juneteenth day, tomorrow, the 19th. michael, it is always a pleasure to see you. you have a great weekend and happy juneteenth. >> thank you, sir. >> this is d"don lemon tonight." i hope you are enjoying your j juneteenth national holiday today. we are owning up to our history and that is a good thing, as michael just said. not running away from it like so many republicans on the hill, capitol hill, i mean. like they are trying to do. so we are ending this week on a high note of truth. yet, we have