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New Day
Warren Visited Puerto Rico; Food Safety Concerns amid Shutdown; Another Arctic Blast in the Midwest. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired January 23, 2019 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:32:39] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Later today, Senator Elizabeth Warren makes a visit to the crucial early voting state of South Carolina. This comes off of a trip to Puerto Rico, where she was highly critical of the president's response to Hurricane Maria.
Our MJ Lee is there.
Quite a statement down there, MJ.
MJ LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John.
Yes, this is a really interesting decision by Elizabeth Warren to visit Puerto Rico just three weeks after announcing her exploratory campaign because, as you know, the residents of Puerto Rico don't actually get to vote in the U.S. presidential general election. And she's not even the first Democratic candidate to visit the island. As you recall, last week we saw former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro visiting the island as well.
All just goes to show, there are clear, political reasons for Democratic presidential candidates to visit this island. First and foremost, it is obviously an important way of reaching out to the important Hispanic constituency. And, second of all, it is a way for these Democratic candidates to go after President Trump, particularly when it comes to the issue of how the administration has responded to Hurricane Maria and the aftermath of the terrible hurricane, and especially given the news that the administration has actually looked at ways of diverting funds for hurricane relief efforts to build President Trump's border wall.
Now, I caught up with Senator Warren yesterday here in San Juan and she said that President Trump has treated the people of Puerto Rico with extraordinary disrespect. Here's what she had to say.
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SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Donald Trump won't even pay the people of Puerto Rico the courtesy of acknowledging the deaths of the people they love. And now that he's caught in this fight to try to find funding to be able to build a monument to hate on the southern border of the United States, he looks over to Puerto Rico to see if he can take away unspent dollars that were designated for relief efforts. That's just fundamentally wrong.
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LEE: Now, later today, Senator Warren heads to South Carolina to campaign there, all as the 2020 field seems to be growing by the day, John. Yesterday I did ask her what she thought about the fact that there are now four Democratic candidates running for president on the Democratic side. And she said that this is an exciting moment and that it is long overdue.
[06:35:12] John, back to you.
BERMAN: MJ Lee live in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Very unusual to see so many Democrats going there so early. Great to have you there, MJ.
A Democratic controlled House passing a bill to protect the NATO alliance. This had strong bipartisan support. The measure now goes to the Senate. It reiterates U.S. policy to remain a member of NATO and it prohibits funds from being used to pull out of the alliance. President Trump has reportedly raised the idea of withdrawing from NATO several times in the last year.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: The Los Angeles teachers return to work today after a majority approved a new deal with the district ending their six-day strike. The new agreement includes a 6 percent raise, a gradual decrease in class sizes, and more counselors, librarians and nurses. But in Denver, months of simmering tensions over teacher pay have finally boiled over. Educators there agreeing to walk out starting Monday.
BERMAN: One of America's great injustices has come to an end. Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, none of them were unanimous choices for the Baseball Hall of Fame. But finally there is the unanimous choice. Yankee closer Mariano Rivera, the first unanimous choice ever by the baseball writers, he's headed to Cooperstown, along with three others in the class of 2019. Edgar Martinez, the first really full time DH to go in, Mike Mussina and the late Roy Halladay. I know you're outraged that there's never been a unanimous inductee to the Hall of Fame --
CAMEROTA: I'm boiling over right now.
BERMAN: It's dumb. Do you know why? You, of course, know that the reason is because these baseball writers, some of them said, well, no one's perfect. We don't want to send anyone unanimous. They can always better.
CAMEROTA: Wow.
BERMAN: It's just sill.
CAMEROTA: Just completely silly.
BERMAN: Completely silly.
CAMEROTA: As you know, I'm turning over a new leaf.
BERMAN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: And I'm very interested in sports as of today. And I do have a Mariano Rivera story. I was at lunch around here and the friend I was with suddenly, as if hypnotized, got up and roamed away from my table and went over to another table where it was Mariano Rivera, I later learned. I said, thank you. That's all I want to say to you, thank you.
BERMAN: Well, my story, Rivera has caused me as much pain as anyone on earth. I'm a Red Sox fan and he mostly just beat us forever and ever. I once did a charity event and he was there and he raised so much money. He is such a warm, giving person. And it's --
CAMEROTA: And that just ticks you off.
BERMAN: Almost impossible for me not to like him.
CAMEROTA: There you go.
All right, they inspect your food, your medicines, so much more, but the shutdown is making all of that hard for the FDA do. We talk with a former FDA commissioner about what she says she worries about today.
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[06:41:40] CAMEROTA: Food inspections, drug regulations, medical devices, vaccines, dietary supplements, tobacco, all of that and more is under the purview of the FDA. So, how is the shutdown affecting all of the things that you use every day and your safety?
Joining us now is former commissioner of the FDA, Margaret Hamburg.
Dr. Hamburg, thank you very much for being here.
Before we get to that litany of things that the FDA regulates that I'm not sure Americans know how much the FDA oversees, let's just talk about food.
MARGARET HAMBURG, FORMER COMMISSIONER, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION: OK.
CAMEROTA: Every American eats food. And people today are concerned about the food chain. Are you concerned? Should Americans be worried about their food safety today?
HAMBURG: You know, this country has had the safest food supply in the world pretty much and I think we can continue to have confidence overall in the safety of our food. People don't have to panic. But people should be concerned. People should really be angry. People should be asking their political leaders to let the FDA go back to full capacity to do its job. Every day the FDA is responsible for protecting the safety of a huge component of the food supply in this country, food that's coming from countries all around the world and food that's being produced and distributed here. And for years FDA actually has been overstretched. And now with this government shutdown, it makes it even harder for the dedicated staff at the FDA to fully do their job.
CAMEROTA: Because, listen, as we understand it, the latest numbers, according to the FDA, are that only about half of the FDA employees are working today.
And so back to the food for a second. I understand that the FDA has a great track record with keeping us safe with food. However, the current commissioner is sounding the alarm. He's actually saying that there are high-risk foods right now because of this furlough in our food chain.
So let me put up what he says. This is what he considers high risk right now, seafood, dairy products, including soft and semi-soft cheeses, custard-filled bakery products, unpasteurized juices, fresh fruits and vegetables, some spices, eggs, sandwiches, prepared salads, infant formula.
HAMBURG: That's right.
CAMEROTA: That sounds like a lot of our food we should be worried about.
HAMBURG: Well, I think, you know, American consumers should always be taking, you know, certain safety precautions with their food and they need to be doing it now for sure. You know, rinsing fruits and vegetables, peeling, cooking, storing properly, et cetera. Also our food supply is not just regulated by the FDA. The companies that are producing the food, the grocers that are selling it, all of those in the supply chain take responsibility for oversight and safety.
But there is no doubt that with fewer inspections going on, and a workforce that is -- is getting pretty burned out doing more work than normal to fill in the gaps for those who are out on furlough, that the number of inspections, the quality of inspections, and the ability to promptly respond is declining with each and every day.
[06:45:01] CAMEROTA: Look, that sounds nerve-wracking, but I do want to ask you about the other things that the FDA regulates. So there's drugs, medical devices, vaccines, dietary supplements, cosmetics, tobacco.
HAMBURG: That's right.
CAMEROTA: And, of course, as we said, a big chunk of the food supply. And so what is your -- scale of one to ten, what is your nervousness today about something really going wrong with all of those?
HAMBURG: Well, right now there are components of the FDA that are better staffed and funded than others because there's a system where they can get some funding from industry. So the drug and device areas, some programs are able to go forward. But they're using carryover funds and those are going run out.
The food area is actually the area that is probably hardest hit in terms of the government shutdown and the furloughs and the gaps in resources. I worry that, you know, on the food side, where the FDA's going to still respond quickly and surely to emerging outbreaks to limit them and to high-risk situations, but the ability to prevent problems from happening in the first place is where the greatest gap is.
And we're going to see a lag over time as well, even when the government gets back up and functioning, everyone is going to be behind the eight ball a bit in terms of what needs to be done, the inspections that need to be done and getting the systems back in place, addressing backlogs. And those backlogs are going to apply on the medical device and drug side as well. And we're not seeing the ability of the FDA to do new drug approvals, for example. So important, new innovations are being slowed in their ability to be reviewed and potentially get to the people who need them.
CAMEROTA: Yes. I mean you just don't think about how much of our lives the FDA touches until something like this happens and we have to be concerned.
Dr. Margaret Hamburg, thank you very much for your expertise with this.
HAMBURG: Thank you.
CAMEROTA: John.
BERMAN: All right, a police officer barely manages to avoid getting hit by a car on a snowy highway. The warning police released with this video. Oh, wow. Next.
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[06:51:34] BERMAN: Icy conditions causing a Delta Airlines jet to slide off the runway while taxiing at the airport in Fort Wayne, Indiana. That happened Tuesday night. Officials say no one was hurt. And police in Wisconsin posted this video. Watch this. It shows a car sliding on a snow-covered road getting so close to an officer who just barely gets out of the way. Whew, they released the video as a warning against driving too fast in poor weather conditions.
Meantime, another arctic blast is on tap for the Midwest. Let's go to meteorologist Chad Myers.
Chad.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: In fact, even Detroit Airport closed last night at 8:00 and still isn't open this morning because of that ice storm there. Icing across parts of western New York. Still some snow there across parts of western Chicago. There will be heavy, heavy rainfall all the way down to the Gulf Coast. Today would be a great day to get some new wipers on that car. If they didn't work last time, they're not going to work very good this time either. Heavy rainfall moving into Atlanta somewhere after dark tonight. And heavy rain into the northeast. Enough for flood watches in all the big cities because the ground is now frozen. That rain's not going to soak in. We're going to see two to three inches of rain in some spots. It's not soaking in, it's just going to run off. Tomorrow's the warm day. Tomorrow we get rid of this iceberg that's
across parts of the Northeast. In fact, all the way into the 50s tomorrow. But then a cold front goes by and we cool back down for the weekend. In fact, we get all the way in the 50s for tomorrow from really -- from Boston to New York City, all the way down to D.C., hopefully melting some of that muck.
Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: But I feel like those 50 degree days just trick us.
MYERS: They do.
CAMEROTA: Lull us into submission.
MYERS: Absolutely.
CAMEROTA: And then they hit us again with the 20 degrees.
MYERS: That's right.
CAMEROTA: Thank you, Chad.
All right, as you may guess, Rudy Giuliani provides ample material for late night comics. Check out your late night laughs.
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SETH MEYERS, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS": Rudy Giuliani told "The New Yorker" yesterday that he is afraid that his gravestone will read, quote, Rudy Giuliani, he lied for Trump. And that would be pretty bad since you can pick what they put on your gravestone.
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": Rudy doesn't really care about his legacy, evidently, adding, I figure I can explain it to Saint Peter. He will be on my side because I am so far, I don't think as a lawyer, I ever said anything that's untruthful. You know things are going great when your lawyer's already prepping his argument to stay out of hell.
MEYERS: According to an upcoming book written by a former Trump aide, President Trump is very fixed on chyrons, which are the words on the lower third portion of the screen that are used in cable news. Wait a minute, so an anchor could be saying anything if he's just fixated on the chyron? So I could just be yammering away about how he's clearly a pawn of Vladimir Putin and a complete failure in every way and he basically won't hear me? I mean that's crazy. I could sit here and say a wall on the Mexican board is the dumbest idea I've heard, his golf game stinks, his wife clearly hates him, his suits don't fit and history will remember him as a villain, but he's just reading the bottom of the screen? Man, Trump is an idiot.
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CAMEROTA: They lifted those from a different morning show's chyrons.
BERMAN: No, but they did.
CAMEROTA: That he watches every morning.
BERMAN: They did, but it's true, that's what he sees.
All right, the Senate poised to vote on two competing plans tomorrow to reopen the government. Is there hope of either measure passing?
CAMEROTA: But first, this Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN, be sure to watch a remarkable true story about triplets separated at birth. Here's a look at "Three Identical Strangers."
[06:55:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I tell people my story, they don't believe it. But it's true.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've always thought, what would it be like if you turned the corner one day and you saw yourself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my, God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first time that the boys met the three together, it was a miracle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was nothing that could keep us apart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's when things kind of got funky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something was just not right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to know the truth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was always a question mark.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The parents had never been told.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're trying to conceal what they did from the people they did it to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's still so much that we don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How could you not tell us?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Three Identical Strangers," Sunday at 9:00 Eastern on CNN.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president has laid out a very reasonable solution. There's something for everybody.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), MINORITY LEADER: The president's proposal is the same partisan, narrow, unacceptable package that cannot pass the Senate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People who are saving our lives in the Coast Guard aren't getting paid, TSA agents aren't getting paid, this is hinging on basic services.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Federal agents are not political pawns. We need to get the government open.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a farmer, it's kind of the worst time of year for the government to be shutdown.
[07:00:03] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The White House says they're moving forward with plans for a State of the Union up on Capitol Hill.
