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New Day Saturday
Second Quake Hits Ridgecrest; Replay of Portion of Biden Interview. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired July 06, 2019 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Good Saturday morning, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in for Christi Paul.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you. A second earthquake has now rocked southern California. This one hit Ridgecrest last night at 7.1 magnitude. That's 11 times stronger than the one the day before.
DEAN: It started house fires, rattled apartments, and rocked swimming pools. This is what it was like to go through it.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get under the table's. Get under the tables -- [ bleep ] oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God. Oh my God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was a bad one. This is so bad.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The front door came open.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's OK. It's OK, just hold on. Hold on. Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a big one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is bad, Brian(ph). Oh. Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: [ bleep ].
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. Holy [ bleep ]. Holy.
(END VIDEO)
BLACKWELL: Listen, you can understand some of the profanity when your house is shaking like that; the glass breaking. We're going to have more of that video of the 7.1 when it hit, but there have been significant aftershocks in the hours since. The mayor of Ridgecrest says that some people, they just don't trust the strength of the integrity of their own four walls. So instead they're sleeping in their driveway, on the sidewalk. Thankfully there have been no reports of deaths or serious injuries. The epicenter of the quake missed the major cities nearby but still, thousands of people have lost power and water services. The USGS says this will likely be a billion-dollar disaster.
Earlier this morning the fire chief said there were so many 911 calls for help, they had a backlog.
DEAN: CNN national correspondent Sara Sider in is in Ridgecrest, California this morning. Sara, what are you seeing?
SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We arrived here just a few hours ago after feeling this earthquake in Los Angeles and I can tell you we've felt two significant aftershocks. In the car you can really tell because it tends to waver back and forth, and it went on for quite some time. I'm standing in front of a house that -- I'll let you see what is left of it, that was burning, you know, quite heavily earlier in the evening; firefighters coming to put that out.
They told us they just came by here to check for hot spots, worried that there may be more hot spots inside the house that could reignite the fire either at this house or from the houses on either side, the neighbors' houses. They wanted to make sure those are put out. I can tell you, this was -- huge flames coming from this home. They've had at least three after the major quake that hit, the 7.1 that hit today. A lot of folks thought that the 6.4 on Thursday was the big one. It turned out that there was a bigger one yet to come.
Residents of Ridgecrest, thought they'd experienced the worst of the shaking Thursday. It turned out the largest earthquake to hit southern California in 20 years, a 6.4-magnitude quake, was just a fore-shock.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God. Oh, my God.
SIDNER: (Voice over) At about 8:20 Friday night, the violent jolt from a 7.1-magnitude quake traumatized the town again.
(BEGIN AUDIO)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cars just started dancing. The dogs were freaking out. The cattle behind us were going nuts.
(END AUDIO)
SIDNER: It ruptured gas lines, caused fires.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody okay?
SIDNER: (voice over) knocked out power, [ siren ] left some residents scraped and bruised and at the very least, scared.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many of them are sleeping outside tonight. We are offering any services as noted earlier. We have places for people to shelter here. But many are choosing to just be with their neighbors, both in their sidewalks, in their driveways, and some of them are in the streets.
(END VIDEO)
SIDNER: In the nearby city of Bakersfield, the shifting earth sent rocks cascading on to a highway and created cracks along the highway. Across the California border in Las Vegas, the shaking sent a wave of panic in the stands during the NBA Las Vegas Summer League game. And more than 150 miles away in Los Angeles, tens of thousands of L.A. Dodgers fans felt the familiar yet unnerving jostling from the quake, though the game went on.
[06:05:00]
Near the epicenter, seismologists say there is still a chance that the 7.1 is only a fore-shock but the more likely scenario is strong aftershocks that go on for days.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very energetic system -- sequence. So there's no reason to think that we can't have more large earthquakes.
(END VIDEO)
SIDNER: And this has been felt as far away as Mexico, also in Sacramento, in northern California. So significant earthquake hitting here and centered, the epicenter, around here, this town, Ridgecrest. I should also mention that the governor has declared a state of emergency. Not just here but also in San Bernardino County where there are already reports of some damages there.
A lot of people just shaken by this because although they've been told by seismologists that there's a one in 20 chance or 5 percent chance that there could be another one that is larger, most folks are used to having the big one and then a bunch of little ones after; very unnerving for the folks in this town. Victor?
DEAN: No question about that. Sara Sidner, thank you so much. We'll check back in with you in a little bit.
BLACKWELL: Thank you Sarah.
DEAN: Thursday's earthquake was the strongest in nearly 20 years to hit southern California. And geologists say now that was just the setup for last night's 7.1-magnitude quake, what experts call the main shock. They say it was five times the size of that first quake the night before. Jeff Schaefer lives in Ridgecrest, and he's joining us now. Jeff, we're glad you're okay. Thanks for being with us. JEFF SCHAEFER, RIGECREST RESIDENT: Thanks for having me.
DEAN: Help us understand. We're seeing these videos, we're seeing the earth trembling, the pool - the water sloshing out of the pool. What is it like though to be on ground that is shaking like that? What did that feel like to you?
SCHAEFER: I think Sarah hit it well; it's unnerving. It's something you can't control in a town where there are so many people who make a living out of being in control. We do weapons testing here at China Lake and it's very scripted, it's very controlled. When you're in a situation where you have no control, it's very unnerving.
BLACKWELL: So Jeff, I can see you're inside, looks like you're inside your home. Some people have not felt secure enough or confident enough in the structure. Have you suffered any structural damage there inside your home, anything broken or damaged?
SCHAEFER: Nothing structural. Just some knick knacks, some picture frames that fell from the wall. I have been very fortunate. I have had no interruption in power, gas, and internet, satellite TV. I've been watching you guys all day. I've been very fortunate.
DEAN: And Jeff, when it comes to what happens next, you know, we've been hearing the experts saying there could be many more aftershocks. There have been aftershocks. Does that make you anxious at all? Is there an underlying anxiety of, gosh, is this going to happen again? Do you think about that?
SCHAEFER: Absolutely. After the 7.1 hit, monitoring Facebook, and next thing you know you start seeing rumors about something that might hit that's even bigger. The first thing I did was pack to-go bags. One for me, one for my pets. They're in the car right now. My truck, my vehicle rather is in the driveway ready to go so all I've got to do is leash up my pets, put them in the truck and get out of here. I'm ready to leave.
BLACKWELL: How long have you lived in southern California, Jeff?
SCHAEFER: I moved here from northern New Jersey 23.5 years ago.
BLACKWELL: So 23.5 years ago that means you were there after Northridge, right?
SCHAEFER: Right.
BLACKWELL: So what we learned from the experts and I guess the historical pattern is that the 7.1, even the 6.4, they aren't anomalous. It's the absence of one for so long that really is unusual. Having come after the big one so many years ago in the early '90s, does this make you reconsider where you are?
SCHAEFER: Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I'm likely to retire within the next five to seven years. I've always said I wanted to retire here in Ridgecrest. It's a nice community, very affordable from a California perspective. But now I'm not so sure I want to live here after I retire.
DEAN: Such a frightening experience.
BLACKWELL: Yes. All right. Jeff Schaefer, again, we're glad that you are okay, that your home is okay, no loss of services or power and thanks for spending a few minutes with us very early actually, you know we're at that point...
DEAN: That's right.
BLACKWELL: ... on the West Coast where it's just as late as it is early and we appreciate you talking with us in the middle of the night here from your time zone there. Jeff Schaefer, again from Ridgecrest, California.
SCHAEFER: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: Still to come, experts say there's a significant threat as we said that an even greater, stronger earthquake could still strike.
[06:10:00]
Really we heard from a seismologist, a 1 in 10 chance there in California in the coming days. We'll talk about that and what folks out there can expect next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEAN: Good morning. A powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake has hit southern California sending terrified residents into the streets. That quake caused damage in Ridgecrest. Homes shifted, foundations cracked, there were multiple fires there. Some injuries were reported but thankfully no deaths.
BLACKWELL: So there's a chance that the worst may not be over. And consider this, we've been on the air for "New Day" for what, 14.5 minutes now. In those 14.5 minutes there have been 11 aftershocks; the strongest 3.5 magnitude. Experts say that there is a chance that a stronger earthquake, stronger than 7.1, could hit southern California in the next few days.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
DR. LUCY JONES, USGS SEISMOLOGIST: We have never seen a sequence like this suddenly stop, right. So the aftershocks will continue. It's following a pretty traditional pattern but on the high side. So how many aftershocks will you get to a seven? Some of them have just a small number, some have a lot. We're on the upper 50 percentile. This is definitely a robust sequence but it's far from unprecedented.
[06:15:00]
It's just on the high side of average.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lucy, can you discuss the aftershocks again, the size of them and how many you've had? JONES: OK, so far we've recorded two that are above magnitude 5; 16
above magnitude 4, and over 50 that are above magnitude 3.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the chances of another seven-plus in your mind?
JONES: There's an estimate, a very preliminary estimate right now of about 10 percent; about a 1 in 10 chance that we could have another seven within the sequence. That's calculated for the next week.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, what about the six, the five please. What about the six...
JONES: OK. So the chance of something bigger than six is actually a bit over 50 percent. That will - one in two, a little better than 50- 50 chance. The chance for fives is approaching certainty. It's -- it would be extremely unusual if we didn't have another five.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Through next week?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Specifically within like three days, right? Three days time...
JONES: These estimates are all for a week.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A week?
JONES: All right, so the most likely time is right now. The other thing to remember, the way they die off with time and we were seeing it after the six, and it seems -- we seem to be getting into the die- off period on the seven. Whatever number you have in the first 24 hours, the next 24 hours will have about half that many. And the next 24 hours will have about one-third that many, et cetera. So the 10th day we'll have one-tenth as many as we have on the first day. And what that means is it will go down quickly, and then we'll have a long tail where it will continue to have the risk for quite a while. Last time we had earthquakes of this size we were seeing significant aftershocks for more than a year.
(END VIDEO)
DEAN: All right. There was some more about the aftershocks. We're going to bring in meteorologist Ivan Cabrera. We want to update you. We've now had 13 aftershocks since "New Day" started 17 minutes ago. That's what's going on out in California. Help us understand, Ivan, the magnitude of this quake and then what people can expect both today and in the coming days.
IVAN CABRERA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. I want to break that down for you. In fact we've got a few more. We're getting one about every few minutes here. That's going to continue. As Lucy mentioned there, they are going to be below 7.1, assuming -- this is big -- assuming that the 7.1 is the main quake. We had a less than 10 percent chance of a greater than 6.4 happening, and here it is, right, at 7.1.
By the way, this is a huge deal. This is the way they're categorized. The 6.4 was a strong earthquake. This was a major earthquake, anything above 7. Those don't happen that often, not just in California but across the world. They are in the single digits as far as how many we get. And this is an exponential energy release. When we're talking about a 6.4 and 7.1, you think it's only -- no, it's 11 times stronger. The energy released, the ferocity of the shaking is 11 times stronger when you go from the 6.4 to the 7.1. A 7.1, what does that mean as far as energy, how about 45 Hiroshima atomic bombs. That's what we're talking about as far as energy; 1.3 billion sticks of dynamite and if you were to power your home with the energy release from that quake, you would have 29,660 years of power. Obviously a significant event here.
This is the shake map. These are the areas that felt the shaking from Fresno to L.A. and as you see with the cities, they get more intense. By the way, the 6.4 did not have severe shaking, Ridgecrest did feel severe shaking with this 7.1 and this is the average as Lucy was mentioned. This is just average. When you get a 7.1, the chance of getting a six or higher are about one. We'll watch this closely but that's just an average here. That can change rather quickly. So 1 in 10 chance, I think that's pretty significant to get something above a 7.0. We're hoping the 7.0 was the max. But we'll keep watching for you here.
What folks need to understand is that we are going to continue with the earth shaking because once you get that rupture, it's not quite done. When it's not quite done, we're talking about aftershocks that could continue for weeks and months though they decay in frequency and intensity, guys.
BLACKWELL: Yes, significant aftershocks in number and in size. Ivan Cabrera, thanks so much.
DEAN: Up next, we'll speak to a man who was riding a roller coaster in Disneyland when that quake hit. We're also take a look inside some businesses that are staying open despite taking on heavy damage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:20:00]
BLACKWELL: It's been a rough 48 hours for people who live in Ridgecrest, California, near the epicenter two of earthquakes this week. First, no deaths have been reported. But you see this, this is not the only fire that broke out. We know also that homes swayed, some foundations cracked. There are a lot of people without power.
DEAN: The mayor of Ridgecrest says many residents are actually choosing to spend time with neighbors outside on the sidewalks because they're afraid to stay inside their homes.
(BEGIN AUDIO)
BRETT TANNER, RIDGECREST RESIDENT: Been a little crazy the last 24 hours. We happen to all be outside. We live on acreage kind of overlooking the town and we were all outside just letting the grandkids play and the cars just started dancing, the dogs were freaking out. The cattle behind us were going nuts, and it's just been everybody standing outside since.
(END AUDIO)
DEAN: As you can imagine, thousands of homes and businesses are without power due to the earthquake but one business managed to stay open despite the damage.
BLACKWELL: CNN's Paul Vercammen walks us through what was damaged in this quake. Watch this.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm here inside this convenience and liquor store in Ridgecrest to get a sense what happened inside some of these buildings. Just stuff knocked down everywhere. Bottles off the shelves, broken here. The owner, Anton(ph), says in the two days that they've been rocked by this quake inside the store, he believes that they've had more than $100,000 worth of damage. You can clearly see strong, knocking things off shelves, doors down. As we said, shattered glass and bottles everywhere.
It's going to be a long time cleaning up but to the credit of the people in the store, they've stayed open. As we said, shattered glass and bottles everywhere. It's going to be a long time cleaning up. To the credit of the people in the store, they've stayed open. We've seen a steady stream of people coming in to grab whatever it is that they need including bottled things such as water. Reporting from Ridgecrest, I'm Paul Vercammen.
BLACKWELL: After the last couple of days, maybe not just water. I mean, go in there and we can say that because there are no deaths, no serious injuries here.
DEAN: Right.
BLACKWELL: But there are people who are keeping that business open. Next guest found himself in an unusual situation when the earthquake hit. He was riding Space Mountain at Disneyland.
DEAN: It's unusual indeed. Joining us now on the phone, Dan Martinez. Dan, we're so glad that you're safe. You were on Space Mountain when the earthquake starts? What happened?
DAN MARTINEZ, AT DISNEYLAND DURING EARTHQUAKE: Hey there, good morning. So we are on Space Mountain. We are on our way up in the space port, if you will. And all of a sudden things stop and as we were kind of noticing things kind of go to a halt, we kind of figured somebody maybe was adjusting themselves in the back because they're bucket seats, so you're set down. But all of a sudden the lights turned on, and like you just saw the Disney employees like go quick into action. And you saw them dart through, and they said we'll be right back for you, we're going inside.
So they darted through, and once we got our duo that came and rescued us out, we actually had the lights go -- another pair of lights go back on to kind of guide us through the steps because there's steps on the incline. And they actually had to take us row by row and pull us up from the cars at the incline. Keep in mind we're kind of leaning back at this entire point. They pulled us up, and we had to jump over to the steps and slowly wait for each row to be cleared from each vehicle at Space Mountain.
BLACKWELL: Dan, I can imagine if you're on a roller coaster and an earthquake hits, you don't really know where this rumble is coming from as you suggested. You don't know if someone behind you was adjusting themselves in that bucket seat. At what point did you know or were you told why you were being pulled off the ride?
MARTINEZ: I will say that's the one thing, the piece of credit I'll give the Disney employees. They didn't tell us right away what was going on which calmed us down a little bit I guess; we weren't so panicked. Once we got to encounter some other people that were waiting in like the extended queue area, they said they felt the spaceship that is above everybody kind of start shaking and rock back and forth. Once we heard that, we're like, what? So right away I got on my phone and saw on twitter that the USGS was reporting the 7.1 number at the time.
DEAN: And had you bought that this at all just because of the fact that the 6.4 earthquake had come the day before? Did this enter your mind at all going on roller coasters in Disneyland? You're 150 miles- plus south, maybe it didn't.
MARTINEZ: You know, we did think about it. Actually I picked up my friend at the airport in Phoenix yesterday morning. It was my first question to her actually -- I drove to pick her up, I said, hey, do you still want to go to California? I know the earthquake just happened. I don't mind kind of adjusting our plans. We both were like, no, let's give it a shot. However, once we figured out that another earthquake had happened, we kind of were a little bit more weary and are keeping ourselves more updated with the news. We've downloaded some apps to make sure we can track things as best as we can. We even took precautions in the hotel overnight, making sure we have a quick way to exit if needed.
BLACKWELL: We're hearing that from people who are questioning the integrity of some of these structures although we've had no reports of building collapses there, at least in L.A. Dan Martinez, CNN alumnus. Good to talk to you again Dan.
MARTINEZ: Thank you, guys.
DEAN: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: Let's go back to the mayor of Ridgecrest here who says several people there as we said, they're not sleeping inside. They don't really trust the structure maybe because of what you're seeing here. And we're learning at least 129 people are at a local shelter. We'll have more on this powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake in California in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:30:00] BLACKWELL: All right, more now on the breaking news out of southern California. The powerful 7.1 earthquake hit overnight; the epicenter near Ridgecrest. Officials are responding to we're told multiple fires, several gas leaks. The mayor says that some people have been injured.
DEAN: Last night's quake was felt as far away as Las Vegas where NBA Summer League games had to be canceled. Players pulled off the court. A sellout crowd was told to go home. Joining us now, NBA TV host Ro Parish. Thank you so much for being here.
RO PARRISH, NBA TV HOST: Not a problem. Thank you for having me.
DEAN: Tell us what -- we're looking at the video right now of people getting up and leaving. What was the feeling like? Were people confused?
PARRISH: Let me just say this, I'm not from the West Coast. Initially I was covering the Orlando-San Antonio game in Cox Pavillion which the smaller gym next door to Thomas and Mack so I'm sitting there, I'm looking at my camera op, and he said, are we moving? I said, I think we are. Looking at the crowd, initially they weren't sure what was happening. It took us a moment to realize what was going on. I looked up, the lights were swaying. The speakers were swaying. The iron fixtures, everything above us was moving. I'm saying to myself, okay, I'm pretty sure this is an earthquake. I've never been in anything like this before.
DEAN: Wow.
BLACKWELL: Let's be clear to kind of reconcile what you're telling us with what we're watching on the screen. What we're seeing, correct me if I'm wrong, this is the Thomas and Mack Center with the larger venue where, frankly, everybody was showing up to see Zion Williamson in the summer league game. You're next door in a smaller venue, maybe from what I understand, maybe 3,000 seater, right?
PARRISH: Exactly. It's a much smaller venue in comparison to Thomas and Mack. I eventually exited and went to Thomas and Mack to see what was going on. That was the Knicks-Pelican game. As you mentioned, Zion Williamson was playing there and the scene was very calm. But you could see there was a lot of confusion.
[06:35:00]
NBA team personnel and league reps were on the court trying to figure out and discuss what was going to be the best method to move forward. There was some talk to continue the games. There was initial talk to move the game over to the Cox Pavillion but eventually they decided that the best option was going to be postponing the games to a later date so they could figure out what was going on and examine the structure of the building.
BLACKWELL: In large part not just because of the people there and do we want to continue on, but that scoreboard hanging over...
DEAN: That's what I'm looking at, too. Swaying.
BLACKWELL: ... the floor, swaying back and forth.
PARRISH: Yes, that there, I wasn't there to witness initially. When I did arrive, you could still see it slightly moving, and just seeing an object that large that's hanging above you, that can make if you think twice about wanting to do anything else on the court. It was definitely a frightening moment.
DEAN: Yes, there's no question about that. Ro Parrish, glad you're all right. Thanks so much before for being with us this morning.
PARRISH: No doubt about it. As far as I know right now, all games for Saturday are set. Everything it's supposed to go as scheduled for the Summer League. And it's going to be an interesting day, especially with everything that happened with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George going to the Clippers. It was a very, very interesting night to say the least in the NBA.
DEAN: Sounds like it.
BLACKWELL: Ytes, that industry shaking -- different type of shaking than we saw reaction on social media. Ro Parrish, thanks so much for being with us.
PARRISH: Victor, Jessica, thank you.
DEAN: Thank you. Our live breaking news coverage continues. We're going to have more on the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that rocked Ridgecrest, California, overnight. We also want to bring you a CNN exclusive, Vice President Joe Biden laying out his plan for the economy, immigration, and how he plans to pull ahead of the crowded democratic field. We've got that interview next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:40:00]
DEAN: We continue to follow the breaking news out of California this morning after a powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake rocked the city of Ridgecrest. Officials there say there have been no reports of any deaths but thousands of people are now water and without power.
BLACKWELL: As we've said, fires have broken out. The fire department says homes have shifted, foundations have cracked. The city's mayor says people are sleeping outside tonight. Second quake to hit the area in just two days. On Thursday a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck the same area. We'll go back live to Ridgecrest in a few minutes.
DEAN: Now to a CNN exclusive. Vice President Joe Biden sat down with our Chris Cuomo for a one-on-one interview.
BLACKWELL: So he talks about the economy, health care, immigration, and laying out why his policies can push him ahead in the tightening race for the democratic nomination.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: You versus the rest of the field, on the economy they're all going big, 70 percent tax rates, free college, rearchitecture of the economy, a forgiving debt for college which happens to be the biggest asset on the American government's balance sheet. You do not believe in those things?
JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT AND 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't believe in the way they're doing it. For example, I think there should be health care for everyone. I have a plan how to do that, and it's rational and will cost a hell of a lot less and will work. In terms of...
CUOMO: Too incremental?
BIDEN: No, it's not incremental.
CUOMO: Would you bring back the individual mandate?
BIDEN: Pardon me?
CUOMO: Would you bring back the individual mandate?
BIDEN: Yes. Yes, I'd bring back the individual mandate.
CUOMO: You think that will be popular?
BIDEN: Yes, now it would be compared to what's being offered. Here's the deal Chris. We're in a situation where if you provide an option for anybody who in fact wants to buy into Medicare For All, they can buy in. They buy in, and they can do it. If they like their employer- based insurance, which a lot of unions broke their neck to get and a lot of people like, they shouldn't have to give it up. The flip of that is if you don't go my way and you go their way, you have to give up all that. What's going to happen when you have 300 million people landing on a health care plan? How long is that going to take? What's it going to do?
In the meantime a lot of people are going to be in trouble. In terms of the economy Chris, I've been proposing for a long time, and look I know I'm middle-class Joe, I get that part. It's not meant I'm sophisticated, it means, you know, the middle class built this country. You didn't have Wall Street build this country and how did they do it? You gave people a chance, you allowed them to maintain their dignity. How did they do it? How can you have dignity without having healthcare? How can you have dignity without having access to an education? How can you have dignity unless you live in a neighborhood that's not fouled by the environment and what's going on?
CUOMO: How do you convince the party that these more advanced ideas, all in on Medicare For All, that matter to them...
BIDEN: I wouldn't call them advanced. I would call them...
CUOMO: They're popular in the party. BIDEN: By the way, watch. That's what this election is about. I'm
really - I'm happy to debate that issue and all those issues with my friends because guess what, again, look who won the races. Look who won last time out. And by the way, I think Ocasio-Cortez is a brilliant, bright woman. But she won the primary. In the general election fights, who won? Mainstream democrats who are very progressive on social issues and very strong on education, health care. Look, my north star is the middle class. When the middle class does well, everybody does well.
CUOMO: How do you do better for them economically? If not with the 70 percent tax rates?
BIDEN: Well, three things. One, I do raise the tax rate to 39.5 percent. I do, in fact, eliminate the ability for them to write off capital gains the way they do now. I would raise billions of dollars, raise the corporate tax rate from 20% percent to 28 percent. It was 36 percent - to 28 percent. I'd raise billions.
CUOMO: Trump will say that's what brought the economy up to where it is, is those tax cuts.
BIDEN: Ask these people who work in this restaurant how the economy came up for them. Ask them how good they feel about it. Ask them how the stock market is really helping. Ask how driving the $2 trillion greater in debt has done anything for them.
CUOMO: On health care, do you believe that undocumented people should have health care in this country?
BIDEN: I think undocumented people need to have a means by which they can be covered when they're sick. And so the idea is that's what I think we should be doing by building more clinics around the country, not just for undocumented, for other people when they're ill, they're sick. People need -- this is common decency. You're not going to let somebody...
CUOMO: It's unpopular.
BIDEN: I know it is.
CUOMO: Well over 50 percent of people polled say undocumented people here should not have healthcare on our dime.
BIDEN: Well, let me tell you something, in an emergency, they should have health care. Everybody should. Anybody in the country. Cumented people here should. Have health care on our dime. Cumented people here should. Have health care on our dime.
Let me tell you something, in an emergency, they should have health care. Everybody should. Anybody in the country.
[06:45:00]
How do you say you're undocumented, I'm going to let you die, man? What are you going to do? The idea that I hear the stuff about how, you know, they're killing social security, et cetera. Those that have jobs, guess what, they've increased the life span of social security by close to a dozen years. I mean, we got this -- this is part of what Trump is playing on. He's playing on.
CUOMO: It works for him, this issue of law and order versus a left that seems like it's open borders because it means it's lawless. You have people who are running close to you now who are saying decriminalize coming into the country illegally. Do you believe that should be decriminalized?
BIDEN: No, I don't. No, I don't. I think people should have to get in line. If people are coming because they're seeking asylum, they should have a chance to make their case. I would be surging as we did and Barack and I did, surging folks to the border to make concrete decisions. Look, the other thing, Chris, is why are they coming? The reason the vast majority of these people are coming from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador is because they're in trouble. Crime rates are high. Education is terrible.
In Guatemala, you can't turn on a light switch in half of the mountain. And so what do we do? I put together a $740 million program with republicans, I might add. At the end saying, we'll make a deal with you. You do the following things to make your country better so people don't leave, and we will help you do that. Just like we did in Colombia. What did we do in Columbia? We wend down and said, OK. And I was one of the architects in the Plan Colombia. I said, here's the deal, if you have all these crooked cops, all these federal police, we're sending our FBI down. You let us put them through lie detector tests. Let us tell you who you should fire and tell you the kind of people they should hire. They did and began to change. We can do so much if we're committed.
CUOMO: What do you say to the people in party right now when polled who say, "Yes, I like Joe Biden but I think that his ideas are the old ideas. The new ideas I see a Warren. I see a Sanders. I see a Harris." You've polled lower than them. You poll lower than them on ideas for the future. What do you say to them?
BIDEN: I say to them, take a look at my ideas. Take a look at my ideas. I haven't seen those polls. I haven't seen where people said -- what I've seen around the country is the vast majority of democrats are where I am on the issues. We've got to be aggressive. And they're big ideas. The big idea on education, on health care on, dealing with the environment. I mean, I love how all of a sudden I wish I had been labeled as moderate when I was running in Delaware back in the days when it was...
CUOMO: Eighty percent of your party says it's center left.
BIDEN: I am center left.
CUOMO: You know farther left is getting more attention; it's getting amplified. There's a disconnect.
BIDEN: Look, it's center left. That's where I am. Where it's not is way left. Now look, but that's what we can find out. What that's this is debate is about.
CUOMO: Do you think you need if you win the nomination to have a female V.P.?
BIDEN: I think it would be great to have a female V.P. and if I don't win it would be great to have a female president. But the question is, whose issues are best prepared in their wheelhouse, they've demonstrated they know how to deal with them?
CUOMO: Would you consider not having a woman as V.P.?
BIDEN: I would -- look, here's the first thing about being a V.P., I've learned, and that is that in today's environment, there's so much a president has on his or her plate. They need someone they completely trust that they're simpatico with, the same approach, and you can delegate significant authority. The president when he delegated authority in me from the moon shot to Ukraine, he gave me the authority to make decisions. He knew that I knew where he was. He knew that I knew something about it, and he knew we were simpatico so that's what I'm looking for.
CUOMO: Do you think a democrat ticket can win without a woman in one of the two slots?
BIDEN: The answer is yes, but I think it helps having a woman on the ticket. There's a lot of really qualified women out there.
(END VIDEO)
BLACKWELL: A major move in the basketball offseason. NBA finals MVP Kawhi Leonard is now moving west. We'll talk about it in a moment.
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[06:50:00]
BLACKWELL: There's more than one breaking news story this morning. This on from sports, specifically basketball overnight.
DEAN: NBA finals MVP Kawhi Leonard has reportedly decided where he's going to be playing next season. Vince Cellini is here. Well, well, well.
VINCE CELLINI, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we've all been waiting. In fact this is the free agent signing that the basketball world has been waiting for. Kawhi Leonard's decision finally been made. He's heading to Los Angeles but not as a Laker. The man who brought a title to Toronto is signing a four-year $142 million contract with the L.A. Clippers, according to ESPN and Yahoo! Sports.
Leonard had also considered the Lakers and returning to the Raptors but instead, stole some of Lebron's spotlight in Los Angeles. And the Clippers reportedly trading for Oklahoma City star forward Paul George in ex-climate change for two players and five first-round draft picks. Five. This reshapes the NBA landscape. Well you could say no women's soccer team has faced more
scrutiny/criticism than Team USA has at the women's World Cup this year. But they've also been tested since advancing to the knockout stages. So when people say this team is overconfident, co-captain Alex Morgan says, oh, no chance.
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ALEX MORGAN, WOMEN'S WORLD CUP PARTICIPANT: Our route to the final has been the most difficult that this program has ever seen. And so in terms of that and seeing the games be pretty close in the score lines. I don't know how we could possibly be overly confident.
CELLINI: Team USA plays the Netherlands for the World Cup crown, 11:00 eastern tomorrow morning.
We've seen the tennis phenom Cori "Coco" Gauff at Wimbledon cruising through the first two rounds, but now we know she's a warrior, too. Down 5-2 in the second set yesterday, the 15-year-old American faced two match points against Polona Hercog. She battled back winning both those points and then captured the second in a tiebreak. In the third, she staved off a comeback from Hercog pulling out an impressive and grueling three-set victory. Wow. No downtime for Coco. She has a mixed doubles match today. Back on the court for singles in the round of 16 on Monday against the seventh seed Simona Halep. What a terrific story. She's really brightened up Wimbledon, too. What a great young player.
BLACKWELL: And her mixed doubles partner got rid of his partner to bring her on.
CELLINI: Why not? Right? Right?
BLACKWELL: I see some greatness out to there so get it on the team.
CELLINI: You changed partners too but it's just temporary.
BLACKWELL: Just for the weekend. Just for the weekend. Christie will be back. Vince Cellini, thanks so much.
CELLINI: All right, good to see you.
BLACKWELL: All right, we're continuing to follow the breaking news in California. Magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck overnight. There have been more than 40 aftershocks since we've been on air just 56 and a half minutes now, and the worst may not be over yet. Coming up we take you live to Ridgecrest where the people spent nights on sidewalks and their driveways because they were afraid to go back into their homes.
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