Return to Transcripts main page
Cuomo Prime Time
Biden: Trump Should Not Receive Intelligence Briefings Because Of His "Erratic Behavior"; Biden Using Defense Production Act for Pfizer Supplies, At-Home Tests and Masks; Fox Business Cancels "Lou Dobbs Tonight". Aired 9-10p ET
Aired February 05, 2021 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:00]
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Lou Dobbs show being canceled is one sign it might be going away, but there's a lot more shows just like is still on TV.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: Yes, which make a lot more money for the Network and probably have --
STELTER: You got it.
COOPER: -- and better ratings, so they stick around.
STELTER: You got it.
COOPER: Brian, appreciate it, thank you.
Reminder, don't miss "FULL CIRCLE," our digital news show. You can catch it live, streaming 6:00 P.M. Eastern, at CNN.com/FullCircle, or watch it there, and on the CNN app any time.
The news continues. Let's hand it over to Chris for "CUOMO PRIME TIME." Chris?
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Quick legal point, Dobbs being gone does nothing to the lawsuit.
COOPER: Yes, of course, yes.
CUOMO: His actions, while he was there, condoned by his employer and, in fact, defended, in their response, that's all you need.
COOPER: Yes.
CUOMO: As the plaintiff in that lawsuit.
I hope you have a good weekend. Best to you, and the boy, Anderson.
COOPER: Thanks, Chris.
CUOMO: I am Chris Cuomo. Welcome to PRIME TIME.
The news world is buzzing about President Biden. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NORAH O'DONNELL, ANCHOR AND MANAGING EDITOR, CBS EVENING NEWS: Should former President Trump still receive Intelligence briefings?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think not.
O'DONNELL: Why not?
BIDEN: Because of his erratic behavior unrelated to the insurrection.
O'DONNELL: I mean you've called him an existential threat. You've called him dangerous. You've called him reckless.
BIDEN: Yes, I have, and I believe it.
O'DONNELL: What's your worst fear, if he continues to get these Intelligence briefings?
BIDEN: I'd rather not speculate out loud. I just think that there is no need for him to have that Intelligence briefing. What value is giving him an Intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: This is all over, highly controversial.
Quick take, by definition, it is not controversial, because, by definition, controversial means you are contrary to the truth. What did the President say that is contrary to the truth? If anything, the President was being too nice.
What is shocking here? Of course, Trump would leak the information. He leaked to the Russians when he was President. We watched it happen in real-time.
Isn't it odd that Biden said he is erratic "Unrelated to the insurrection?" Why unrelated? The man showed he was completely fine with people coming to attack our Congress. That's a good reason for him not to get Intel briefings.
And why are all these Righties wringing their hands? It's not a controversy. It's a non-troversy.
One, you know the President doesn't control who gets briefings. Intel does. Two, Trump would have to request one first. And what is the chance of that? This man didn't pay attention to the Intel briefings when he was President!
And now, the Republicans care if a former president gets them? You didn't care that he didn't care about them, but now you care? Just do your damn job and stop stalling.
And of course, that's the real story, the clear deterioration of any sense of duty on the Right, and what that means to our ability to handle the crises, all around us, because clearly that Party thinks the longer the pain endures, the better it is for them in the midterms.
Trump, being in the rearview mirror does not mean our problems are behind us. That guy did not take us down alone.
And now, we see that in the newly-minted GOP-Q that gives more support to a lying kook, who wishes death, on Democratic leaders, than a member of their own leadership, who had the courage to tell the truth about Trump. Think about that!
Now, many of you say, "Why give so much attention to the QAnon lady?" Because she is everything that is wrong with them, and our state of play. A QAnon kook, and the GOP-Q, just fought for her to be a leader in their ranks. It is the most flagrant example of how toxic things have become.
198 in that Party backed up this new rising star. Last night, you heard one of them, on this show, say "She asked for forgiveness. She said she doesn't believe in those toxic hoaxes anymore."
Today, she literally laughed in their faces, tweeting "I woke up early this morning literally laughing thinking about what a bunch of morons the Democrats (+11)" those are her own people "are for giving" me some one - "giving someone like me free time."
"Someone like me!" She knows she is a kook. She knows she is a hack. She is laughing at the situation. Laughing about spreading hoaxes, about 9/11, and about kids dying at schools? It's funny to you. Who is the joke on? That's the question for us.
Now, you heard her apologize yesterday, right, remember? "I know the pain and the fear that Dave Hogg had and the other kids." Remember? That was before the vote. What's the test? What do you do once you get what you want? This is what she did.
[21:05:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): David Hogg was an adult when I talked to him.
My voice matters too. And so, no, I'm not sorry for telling him he shouldn't push for gun control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: There it is. You see what I am saying? This is who she is, literally the lowest common denominator for a Party that's all about fishing the - pushing the worst of us. That's why she matters. She is them.
She is sorry for pushing hoaxes, she said, remember that? She said that before the vote.
Today, listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREENE: I was in the Chamber unlike AOC, Representative Ocasio-Cortez, that faked her outrage with another hoax, just another hoax.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: Oh, another hoax? You mean like the Pentagon not getting hit by a plane, like Jews shooting lasers at us from space? Like those hoaxes that she still hasn't denied. That's why she matters. This is where petting a snake gets you. Snake-bit!
Chaos, murdering a Capitol police officer, Chanting "Hang Mike Pence!" breaking in to the cradle of our democracy with zip ties and weapons, looking for the same men and women, who are giving them cover now, think of how perverse this is. How sick do your intentions have to be to embrace somebody like this?
We just learned today, have you heard this, from the Acting Capitol Police Chief, 125 officers were assaulted. A 125! Over 70 were injured while engaged in hand-to-hand combat, with pro-Trump insurrectionists, assaulted with chemical irritants, TASERs, pipes, bats, bricks, and American flagpoles.
Now, the Party that chooses to ignore that that happened, you have seen no high dudgeon. It took a month for Biden and the Democrats to get an ability to commemorate what happened on January 6th.
And now, the same people embrace a QAnon kook, the group that was all over the worst acts in that insurrection. And now what happens? See, it keeps getting worse, and you have to identify the pattern, because it makes everything make sense.
The QAnon lady, "Well that will be the end of it!" Two House Republicans today fined $5,000 a piece for refusing to go through security screening to enter the House floor, Andrew Clyde of Georgia and Louie Gohmert of Texas. Talk about Elitist! Too good for safety? So much for the Party of Law and Order, right?
This is why other Members of Congress are scared. Who won't go through a security check? What do you got to hide?
But I'll tell you what. The QAnon kook is right about one thing. And it's this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREENE: Teaching people to hate, and addicting them to it, is killing our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: Yes, ironic, right? She would know, right? That's what she was doing. She did it on purpose to bring herself into some kind of notoriety,
because there's no difference, right? Fame, infamy, what's the difference now in politics? As long as you're known, right? And it brought her in the warm bosom of the GOP-Q, the Party that is all about animus.
So, why harp on her? Why harp on this? Because it is a metaphor for the madness in our midst.
Why do you think Democrats can't get a deal? Why was the pandemic relief delayed for seven months, when they were in charge of the Senate? Why didn't they want us to have an HLS, a Homeland Security Head right away? Why does the hate parade, over on Fox, coax you to hate me, and anyone who tests their toxicity?
Because this is where we are. We were not one Trump away from nice, from stable. This didn't happen because of him alone. It is who and what remains. This is the state of play. Own it. See it for what it is. It is not an aberration.
The question becomes what will be the GOP-Q's next step to cause chaos? Let's tap the brains of John Harwood and Michael Smerconish.
Now, Brother Smerconish, I was with you. You were a mentor to me. You're a big brother. Listen to you on the radio, follow you on the radio, and lean on you here.
[21:10:00]
I get it. "It's good for business," courting angry Whites. I can't believe it's just about that anymore. This has got to be a step farther afield. They did not need to embrace a QAnon kook this way, who went bad on her right away just to have White people vote for them, did they?
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST, "SMERCONISH": I want to tie this to some other events that are in the news tonight, as I answer your question.
Lou Dobbs getting canceled, Rudy Giuliani, speaking of radio shows, now having an embarrassing disclaimer that airs on WABC before you hear his voice, Mike Lindell's so-called movie now with a very lengthy disclaimer, the only folks who didn't get the memo are the RNC.
And Chris, I do think it's all about winning. Political parties exist for one purpose. It's to win.
Kevin McCarthy and Company made a calculation this week that they can't cut loose the fringe. They need her in the tent. And they need Liz Cheney in the tent. And that's the decision that they made. And in the short-term, it may work in Georgia's 14th. But it's going to cost them in Suburbia all across the country.
CUOMO: Yes, because it's not a tent. It's a zoo, John. And my concern about it is I don't care what happens in either of the parties, right? For me, it's about well what is the culmination of it? You're not going to get a deal done on relief, you're not going to get
a deal done on the pandemic, you're not going to get a deal done on anything, because opposition is the elixir for them. Am I wrong?
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well we are going to get a deal on relief. And it's going to pass the Congress. It's just going to be a deal within the Democratic Party.
CUOMO: Yes, that's not a deal.
HARWOOD: Maybe a couple of Republicans - well if it passes, and the checks go out, that's a deal.
CUOMO: Well it's a law.
HARWOOD: Look, we've got to --
CUOMO: I'm saying you won't see the two sides come together. You know? Fair point that you may be making is the Democrats have some devil in the details on their own side. But you know what I am saying. They are not going to have bipartisanship.
HARWOOD: Look, the Republican Party is a diseased institution at the moment.
They - you talk about them accommodating Marjorie Taylor Greene. They need people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, at the grassroots, and that's going to be reflected in the Congress. The energy, the intensity, from the most extreme elements of that White working-class base, are vital for the Republican Party, to compete in elections.
Yes, as Michael said, they drive away college-educated Whites. But they were quite competitive in this presidential election with Joe Biden. Yes, he lost decisively. But Donald Trump was within striking distance, if had a few states tipped the other way.
They did quite well in congressional elections. They gained seats in the House, and they ended up 50/50 in the Senate.
CUOMO: Right.
HARWOOD: So, this is the way the Republican Party has evolved. Let's step back and look at the big picture.
CUOMO: Devolved!
HARWOOD: In the mid-1960s - in the mid-1960s, 80 percent of Americans were White Christians. Now, it's under half.
And there is a segment of that group, as we move closer to becoming a majority/minority country, which will happen within about 20 years, 25 years, who feel desperate that they are losing their place, especially the evangelical, the small-town and rural, the lesser-educated people, who think the culture is changing, and the economy is changing to their disadvantage.
CUOMO: Right.
HARWOOD: Their fear, their anxiety, is what, is, the propellant for the Republican Coalition right now. Marjorie Taylor Greene is tapping that. Donald Trump tapped that better than anybody.
CUOMO: Michael, last point to you. The next big moment is the trial that begins next week, the trial, of course, of the impeachment of the former president. Do you think that this is an accelerant, or do you think both sides just wanted to get it over with?
SMERCONISH: The latter. I think it probably ends by a week from tomorrow.
I think that each side is going through the motions that they feel obligated to portray. It will take the oxygen out of the - out of the room for another week of the Biden administration. And then I think we're truly beyond it.
I find the lack of statement of any interview, I know he's restricted on social media, but the way that President Trump is in hiding is really stunning. And I think it's to keep his head down, and just get through next week.
CUOMO: We will see. And we'll do it together.
Gentlemen, some peace for you this weekend, with your families, and thank you for helping the audience tonight, John Harwood, Michael Smerconish.
SMERCONISH: Yes.
CUOMO: Now, tomorrow --
SMERCONISH: Thank you.
CUOMO: -- marks one month since the attempted coup at the Capitol. Can you believe that?
But for all the videos that you've seen from that horrific day, there is one that you may not have, certainly that may have gone without notice. Yet, it is the most disturbing of all. Michael Smerconish just mentioned it.
[21:15:00]
We're going to sift through what plays exactly as propaganda, a propellant for more violence. It is literally a radicalization video. We're going to look at it, thinly disguised messages, to let you see what the risk is, of what could be to come.
I am not being playful when I say, "They released the Kraken." These extremist groups have been desperate for a way into mainstream dialog, and Trump gave it to them. You need to watch this to understand what to watch out for. Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CUOMO: Would you please take a look at a video with me? You may not have seen this, or really, you may not have thought about it. But you must. It mattered on January 6th. And it could be a key to what happens next.
This video played at a Trump rally, just hours before the Capitol attack, right after Rudy Giuliani called for trial by combat. Here's a piece.
[21:20:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(VIDEO - FROM "RIGHT SIDE BROADCASTING NETWORK"/JANUARY 6)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For too long, a small group, in our nation's capital, has reaped the rewards of government, while the people have borne the cost.
(MUSIC)
TRUMP: The Establishment protected itself but not the citizens of our country.
(MUSIC)
TRUMP: That all changes starting right here and right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: Right Side Broadcasting Network. That is going to be something that gets researched. Why?
Listen to my next guest, a scholar of propaganda, who has decoded every frame of this video, for the website, "Just Security." Yale Professor, Jason Stanley.
Good to see you, Professor, thank you.
JASON STANLEY, PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY, YALE UNIVERSITY, AUTHOR, "HOW FASCISM WORKS": Thank you for having me on the show.
CUOMO: So, I see this, and I say, "Yes, it's Trump campaign piffle with music underneath." You see something else. How?
STANLEY: Well, the video opens with a Hollywood sign. That was omitted in what you showed. And then it goes to Biden with a vacant expression, and then shifts to Senator Schumer with a Kente cloth, and Pelosi flanked by two Jewish Congressmen, Nadler - Representative Nadler and Representative Schiff.
So, what is being told to us? "The Elites have betrayed you." Who are the "Elite?" The people who control Hollywood. Who is Biden controlled by? Well he's controlled by Chuck Schumer.
Why is Chuck Schumer wearing a Kente cloth? Well, in anti-Semitic ideology, Jews foment racial division by - in order to takeover, they push, in the KKK ideology, they push for racial division, they push for a race war, in order to divide the country.
So, the Jews are controlling Pelosi. The Jews are the "Elites" that have betrayed you. How have they betrayed you? They betrayed you into wars. They betrayed you - they betrayed the White working-class into poverty.
And who is the Representative who is going to save you from the Elites, the ones who control Hollywood, the Chuck Schumers? Donald Trump.
CUOMO: How can you know that this is their intention and not something that you're just describing?
STANLEY: The way politics works is you can never know. There is always plausible deniability. But Hollywood, who, in anti-Semitic ideology, we've got Hollywood is controlled by the Jews. Chuck Schumer, wearing a Kente cloth, this is the kind of thing that's deeply embedded in our social memory. And --
CUOMO: So, you think whoever did this knew what they were doing and, of course, it winds up being no coincidence that they just gave someone a pass who believes in an organization that says "Jews shoot lasers from outer space to start wildfires."
Let's play the next part, which you believe is a thoughtful evolution of argument and, really, chaos.
Listen to the next piece of the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
(VIDEO - FROM "RIGHT SIDE BROADCASTING NETWORK"/JANUARY 6)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: What do you see?
STANLEY: We see the years before Coronavirus, when Trump ruled, when Trump shoved the Elites aside, and was the dear leader of the country.
He restored our great military, the sign of all authoritarians, the military. He restored our manufacturing sector. We saw before a de- cropped (ph) pickup truck. Now we see these new pickup trucks, rolling off.
We see people weeping in joy at seeing their leader. And in adulation, we don't see democracy. We see a single leader. We don't see the Republican Party. We see one single leader ruling over a happy nation. We see no racial division. We see a Black man and a White man joined together in adulation. We have achieved. We have defeated the Elite.
CUOMO: So, how is that any different than any other campaign video that people put out?
STANLEY: There's no symbol of democracy here. As I talk about in the piece, I don't want to compare Trump to Hitler, but it's fascist propaganda.
CUOMO: Don't.
STANLEY: We're looking - fascist propaganda we're looking at. So Chris?
CUOMO: All right, so? I hear you on that.
STANLEY: That works.
CUOMO: So then there comes to this key element of what they want to do with this video, which makes the timing disturbing, in hindsight, because this was what a lot of that group that went to the Capitol was watching before they went.
So, let's watch this next piece.
[21:25:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
(VIDEO - FROM "RIGHT SIDE BROADCASTING NETWORK"/JANUARY 6)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: It's interesting, when I watched this, I saw that Biden smile, and I said, "Oh, that's weird! They've got a nice shot at - of Joe Biden in there." You say, "No, not a nice shot, by design." Why?
STANLEY: It's betrayal. It's that's - Biden appears right in the frame, right before Barr is testifying. So, there's two things that we're seeing.
Biden is obviously smirking there. And he said - and what's being suggested is that the court attack on Trump is an illegitimate attack on our leader.
And then COVID, of course, the Trump - Trumpism, if you look at these far-Right websites, they promote COVID denialism. So the idea - so why are the streets empty? Why are - why is everything closed? Why is the glory of the Trump years shut down? Because of an invention, COVID, because of treachery, the Elites are back, they are betraying us.
Political violence requires a justification. Political violence requires a reason. This video is giving a reason. It's saying that "We have been betrayed by the Elites. COVID was a sham. COVID has destroyed our economy as a way of tearing us apart. And we need to restore our leader in order to restore the glory of Trumpism."
CUOMO: Ordinarily, when I would have these conversations, over the years, with people in your position, or sociologists, I'd say "All right! All right! I think you're being a little hyperbolic."
The scary thing about this, Professor Stanley, is we know what happened after they saw this video. And it is frighteningly aligned with exactly your representation of the same. Thank you for this. And we have to be aware of what these messages can do and their resonance. And that's what we're watching for next.
Professor Stanley, appreciate you.
STANLEY: Thank you so much.
CUOMO: Now, let's talk pandemic, and let me start a little differently, all right? There is good news about what's happening in this country with Coronavirus. I just don't know that it will continue. There is good news about the vaccine, OK?
So, I am going to bring in our Chief Doctor Sanjay Gupta, who has a surprise for you. But what he sees that could be good if we do certain things, what he sees about the vaccine, and then a special treat, a surprise for Friday night from Dr. Gupta, next.
[21:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: Good statistic, COVID vaccine doses administered outnumbered new cases 10-to-1. It should be that way, by the way, because of how much volume we have of the vaccine. But it's still good.
And those are the kinds of numbers we need, if we're go to win, variants and cases versus vaccine. We want to keep seeing cases going down. That means masking-up. We know that, OK? We also need to start getting the language right.
Have you been hearing the words "Variants" and "Strains" kind of interchangeably? They are not the same thing. When a virus becomes stronger, then it's a new strain, OK? So, it's a meaningful distinction.
And two of the strains, already here, appear to be more contagious, with the strain linked to the U.K. on track to become the predominant one next month, OK? So, when you hear "Strain" your ear should peak-up a little bit more, all right?
Now, the only way you get to the finish line is by taking big steps. That's why you see places like Yankee Stadium becoming mass vaccination sites, and the NFL committing to use every single stadium. You got to get a lot of people in, keep them safe, get them vaccinated, get them out.
There's been a lot of talk about treating this like a war, but it's taken more than a year to actually put troops in the field. To be honest, this is all talk, no walk. It's a mistake. The last administration didn't even plan for its own success in getting the vaccine because they didn't plan to administer it. Now, you're going to have a 1,000 troops to help FEMA. The goal is for them to ramp up to another 450,000 vaccines a day. Now, that would be on top of the 1.3 million shots that we're up to every day.
Some places are still doing better than others. West Virginia? 85 percent of the doses they've done have gone into arms. It's good. This isn't just finishing at the top of the class. Those numbers have a real impact on lives in West Virginia.
We're talking about 40 percent to 45 percent fewer funerals. Thank god for that. Half as many people needing to go to the hospital, thank god for that. It all works hand-in-hand. West Virginia, serious about mandating masks still.
Meanwhile, you got Iowa. The Governor just said that they are lifting all mandates on masks, all mandates on crowd size, and other public health measures. Why?
Their positivity rate is three times the national average. Their vaccination rate is 47th in the country. Do you know what that is? It's poison-thinking in the time of a pandemic, an extension of the GOP-Q.
This isn't about Party. Both governors have an "R" next to their name, West Virginia and Iowa, but it's telling that the one thing that you hear from both of them, they need more supply. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JIM JUSTICE (R-WV): We need vaccines, and feel we're trying. We're writing letters. And our congressmen are pushing and trying to help.
Other than me just running up there, and sitting on somebody, you know, we are - we're doing everything. It's coming from all fronts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: Join QAnon! That may get the Party behind you!
[21:35:00]
The President, Biden, is now using the Defense Production Act to try to boost production with Pfizer, OK? But the vaccine isn't the only option. That's why he's also talking about increasing at-home tests and more masks.
Let's bring in the Chief Doctor, Sanjay Gupta, to discuss the need.
Let's start with the good news. How do you see it?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT, AUTHOR, "KEEP SHARP: BUILD A BETTER BRAIN AT ANY AGE": Chris?
Well cases are down 15 percent from last week, hospitalizations down 12 percent. Those are good numbers. Death rate is still plateaued. But as you know, Chris, that's the last indicator. The vaccine use is good, Chris, as you point out.
And all the discussion about the strains, as you correctly, you know, correctly define them, there is evidence that these vaccines do work for what is most important with these strains, which is to decrease hospitalizations, nearly eliminate deaths.
I mean, 75,000 people in these clinical trials, Chris, who received a vaccine, and in places like South Africa, and Brazil, and the U.K., where these strains have been circulating, for some time, they worked well in those places as well. So that's the good news.
How much more this, because they are so much more transmissible, how much of a problem is that going to cause going forward? How many more vulnerable people will become infected that otherwise wouldn't have, over the next couple of months, before the vaccine race can sort of be - before the vaccines can catch-up? That's the real concern right now.
CUOMO: The Iowa mentality is the problem that word of the vaccine and that numbers are going the right way mean that masks don't really matter anymore.
GUPTA: Yes.
CUOMO: What's the converse?
GUPTA: Well, the idea that you would do that, at this point, you know, that you would start - because we're this home-run touchdown society. The vaccines are in sight, and they are amazing. There's no question about it. But this is not the time to be lifting those types of basic health measures.
You know, Chris? That's the thing that has struck me throughout this entire pandemic.
I hold up these masks, N95 here, KN95 here, got these surgical masks here, whatever it is, if you wear one of these things, even besides a vaccine, this is kind of like bubbling yourself, right? I mean, you do this when you go into hyper-situations. That makes a huge difference.
You got these states that still, so many months, into this pandemic, despite the evidence, you see states that have mask mandates, reduced their growth rate of hospitalizations.
Not just the number of hospitalizations, they take the fuel out of the fire, of the inertia of hospitalizations. And it happens fast. 5.5 percent drop within a couple of weeks that makes a big difference.
So, it's really frustrating, and frankly, really disheartening to see these types of measures getting lifted, because people will unnecessarily get sick, and so close, really, in the scheme of things to the finish line.
CUOMO: So, starting next week, the time is now, for me, in terms of accountability for the new administration. What do they know about their inventory and their supply? When are they going to get more masks out there? What is the timing on these things? It's time for action.
They've had time to ramp up. They've had time to plan. And now, we're going to have to start pushing, as long as it doesn't have to do with Congress, because we know that's not going to go anywhere next week with the impeachment trial.
Now, the Friday night surprise, "Keep Sharp: Building a Better Brain at Any Age." Now, this book was suggested to me, I won't say by who, as something I need. You trying to tell me something, Gupta?
GUPTA: Yes! No, Chris, it's just because I love you like a brother, you know?
CUOMO: Mm?
GUPTA: I mean, this - this - no, seriously. Come on. You know that.
CUOMO: Mm-hmm-hmm.
GUPTA: I spent a lot of time on this book. And I am a neuroscientist. I am a neurosurgeon. And I was hearing from all these people, working in the field, for some time, that at any age, in your life, you could continue to build new brain cells. I found that - just that simple statement to be deeply inspiring.
Used to think that, look, when you're a baby, you brain's still forming, you can make new brain cells. Maybe in response to an injury, like a stroke, or traumatic brain injury, maybe you can make new brain cells.
The idea that your brain can continuously get sharper throughout your entire life, A, that's inspiring, B, how do you do it? That's what the book is really about. And if it was me, who suggested this book to you, which I think that's what you're suggesting, it is purely out of love. You got a sharp brain, Chris. Keep it that way.
CUOMO: I'm just saying, I got a phone call this morning. "You really need this. I'll tell you about it on the show," I probably shouldn't have left it to live television, to find this out.
But give me a little taste of what people will get to understand about the idea that you get older, your brain declines, and that's just how it is.
GUPTA: Yes.
CUOMO: Why does it not have to be that way?
GUPTA: Yes. Well so, I was thinking about this the other day.
Our brains are kind of like how we're living our COVID life right now. We use all of our brains. But right, nowadays, you're at home, you drive to the studio, maybe to the grocery store, kids' school, and that's it. You know how to do all that really well.
[21:40:00] In your brain, the metaphor would be we use 10 percent to 20 percent of our brain, 80 percent to 90 percent of the time. If you start to use other parts of your brain, you start to build cognitive reserve, cognitive resilience, some call it, that is a - it's a pretty amazing thing.
When you do that, it's kind of like building new roads in your brain that you can travel on, and that you are accessing different parts of your brain, which helps you now, you may connect patterns that you otherwise wouldn't see.
But more importantly, the roads that you've gotten so used to traveling, within your brain, if one of them becomes blocked, for some reason, amyloid plaque, tangles, things like that that we associate with dementia, if you have no other way to get through the different destinations, in your brain, you're going to have cognitive decline, and start to get memory loss.
My point is this. If you can build up that reserve, in your brain now, it helps you now, it's kind of a fun thing to do. But it can actually help protect you later in life.
CUOMO: Is it something you can do later in life too?
GUPTA: Do you still have amyloid plaque in your brain?
CUOMO: Can you do it later in life?
GUPTA: Yes, I mean --
CUOMO: Can you start it anytime?
GUPTA: You can build --
CUOMO: All right.
GUPTA: Yes, you can build these new brain cells at any point. If those roads become blocked, you have other roads to choose from. You're not going to feel the symptoms. That's the key.
There's 47 million people in the country right now. If you were to scan their brains, they might have some evidence of amyloid plaques, things that you associate with dementia, they have no symptoms. What can we learn from them? That's what this book's all about.
CUOMO: I love it. Here is the book. "Keep Sharp: Building a Better Brain at Any Age." I am going to buy one of these for all the senior members of my family, and evidently, I need too.
Sanjay, beautiful work! I love that you're thinking about us, and how to make us better, even when you're not on the job. Good luck with the book. I'll be talking about it. God bless you, brother. Have a good weekend.
GUPTA: OK, brother, thank you. Love you. Take care.
CUOMO: Gupta thinks I'm stupid. That's what that book's about. That's why he has to come on the show. And he's not wrong!
All right, so how do we get out of the economic hole caused by the pandemic? Will Biden's COVID relief bill be the trick? Plus what did GameStop mean?
What does it mean that Lou Dobbs just got taken off the air, over at Fox, and that there's this disclaimer before Rudy Giuliani's radio show? Is there a culture change?
Who better than the Renegade himself? Maverick Owner, of the Dallas Mavericks, self-made gazillionaire, Mark Cuban, handsome too, next.
[21:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: It's been such a crazy week, once again, that you probably aren't even focused on Robinhood anymore. Remember GameStop, AMC, all the stuff that was going?
Robinhood finally lifted all the restrictions on stocks, like GameStop and AMC. Of course, the price of GameStop cratered, just as was feared. Now look, that's part of the stock game, if you know how to play the game.
So, the worry is how many people got hurt, in that steep fall you just saw? It's a great starting point for our discussion of the week with the mind of the Maverick, the Owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban.
You like that? You can have it as a title.
MARK CUBAN, OWNER, DALLAS MAVERICKS: Yes!
CUOMO: It's good to see you, brother.
CUBAN: Good to see you too, Chris.
CUOMO: I just want your take on three different things, about whether it seems right, and what it means.
Let's start with Biden though. Do you think his plan for relief is in the right direction? He said tonight, "I don't think the $15 minimum wage is going to make it." That sounds right, even within his own Caucus. Is he doing the right things? What else needs to be done?
CUBAN: No, I think he's taking the right steps, particularly with stimulus.
I mean, in my mind, interest rates are 1 percent. And so, can we earn more than 1 percent by investing in the people of the United States of America? And the answer is "Yes." I think we'll get an amazing return, and by investing, you know, adding the $1,400, seen where that takes us.
And by the way, the first stimulus, and the first, you know, the second half stimulus all improved the economy. So, let's not mess with it. Let's keep on doing it, and see what happens next.
CUOMO: And to the people who say, "No, no, no, that's not real economics. You're giving them money. Shouldn't do it?"
CUBAN: They're wrong, right? The proof is in the pudding. When we got the first stimulus, back in April, May, whenever it was, we saw growth in the economy, real growth in the economy, and it helped turned it around.
I think the challenge is people are dogmatic when it comes to economics. There is the Republican dogma. There is the Democratic dogma. Why mess with what works? This is working.
CUOMO: GameStop, what does it mean in terms of investing culture?
CUBAN: So, there's two different things.
In terms of investing culture, all of Wall Street has had an advantage over the little guy. I mean, look, the little guy has been diminished, in the eyes of every traditional significant investor. They're called "Minnows."
But now, when they aggregate, and work together, even if it's with WallStreetBets that creates a new set of circumstances. That doesn't mean that all their trades are going to be profitable. It doesn't mean that everybody is going to come out ahead. Doesn't mean there aren't going to be painful lessons.
But if they can keep on aggregating, and particularly, particularly in this counterculture we have with cryptocurrency, with the centralized governance as a thing, and people spent the whole summer learning about it, and decentralized finance, there's really something here.
It's not going to take over tomorrow, or one year, or five years. But I think, over the long-term, it's going to have a significant impact and benefit to small investor.
CUOMO: Did you hear that Fox canceled Lou Dobbs?
CUBAN: Yes, I don't know what that was --
CUOMO: And that now there's a disclaimer - there's a disclaimer before Rudy Giuliani's radio show, and the guy who put out that propaganda video that was used at the Trump rally, before the insurrection, now it comes with a big explanation, a disclaimer before it.
You think there's a culture shift going on?
CUBAN: I hope so. I really, really hope so. When you hold people accountable for the words, by suing them in court, there's consequences. You know laws - words have consequences.
And I think these lawsuits that are filed by Dominion are great. My only hope is that he doesn't settle that he takes it all the way to trial, and that we get to find out exactly what - why what happened, happened, and what people were thinking, when they were making those proclamations on air that were obviously incorrect.
CUOMO: You want the discovery process, as it's called, in litigation.
[21:50:00]
CUBAN: All of it, yes, yes.
CUOMO: And how do you square that with what we saw this week in the GOP-Q, as I call it now, embracing someone they know is a kook, who they know is playing them?
CUBAN: People - politicians have been doing anything to get votes for a long, long time. And so, it doesn't surprise me at all. It's disappointing. But we'll see what happens, right?
Hopefully, there's going to be consequences to them. And the folks that believe in QAnon, as crazy as it is, will lose, right? But it's just really unfortunate. And it's not good for the country at all.
CUOMO: On your smell test, do you think this summer we're in a better place?
CUBAN: Yes, absolutely, a 100 percent. The vaccinations will never go as fast as everybody wants them to. But we're already starting to see some progress.
Here, in Dallas, we're seeing the cases having falling from 3,000-plus a day to under 1,000, and continuing to drop. We're seeing the reticence to getting the vaccinations declining. I think really things are going in the right direction.
I know with the Mavericks, we're talking about having first responders and health care workers, who have been vaccinated in, and we'll talk to the City and the County about expanding our limited base of fans that we're allowed to have come in.
So hopefully that people will recognize that we'll be able to have group outings again, the more people get vaccinated, and they'll see that as a reward.
CUOMO: Mark Cuban, let's end it on the optimism. I appreciate you, brother. I know you don't have a lot of time. Thanks for spending some of it with us, on a Friday night.
CUBAN: It's always a pleasure, Chris. Thanks for having me on.
CUOMO: Be well. Best to the family.
CUBAN: You too.
CUOMO: All right, you just heard Mr. Cuban, and I, discussing this interesting development, over at Hate TV. I used to call it State TV. But Susan, my Writer, said "How can you keep calling it that? They're not in control of the State anymore." Fair point!
Fox just dumped Lou Dobbs from its Business network lineup. Is it because he just got sued and he's part of that suit? That's not going to help them. So, what does it mean? Is there a culture shift? Because there are a lot of guys more poisonous than him over there. Is canceling the right thing? Are we going to see more of it?
Got a great guest! Brian Stelter. Nobody knows better, what does this mean, next.
[21:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: Breaking tonight, Fox Business host Trump sycophant Lou Dobbs has just had his show canceled. "Lou Dobbs Tonight" pulled off the air, for good, this evening, even though it was the Network's highest- rated show. The Network doesn't do well, but he still was number one there.
Let's bring in Brian Stelter.
Why? And is this one of one, or a sign of things to come?
STELTER: For now, this is one of one. I don't have a sense of anybody else being dismissed this weekend, Chris. But it is a stunning move by Fox Business. Lou Dobbs was one of the only hosts on the channel that actually drew in an audience. And all of a sudden, he's out of a gig.
They're going to keep him on the bench for a while, which means they're going to pay him, but not let him go on TV, which is a very weird thing to do, by Fox. And it begs the question? Are they doing this because of the Smartmatic lawsuit or, are they doing this for other reasons?
Well the spin from Fox is that advertisers didn't like him. He was a pain in the you-know-what to management. His time was up. But clearly, this lawsuit was a big factor, Chris.
CUOMO: Right. If they were going to get rid of people because they won't get advertisers, on their show, they've got some much juicier choices on the Mothership channel.
STELTER: Yes, Tucker Carlson, yes, that's right.
CUOMO: So?
STELTER: They definitely to - Tucker Carlson and others are not advertising magnets. But Lou Dobbs, he, in some ways, he was a vestige of an earlier era at Fox News. He was hired by Roger Ailes. There are some good excuses for getting rid of him now.
But you have to wonder, if this is a broader change by the Murdochs, trying to appease advertisers, trying to appease people, and trying to get this lawsuit off their back. But, as you said earlier, this is not going to change the lawsuit against Fox News.
CUOMO: Yes, him, not being there anymore is irrelevant, because the behavior that's being sued on happened already. And Fox defended it. Now, how do you tie this in with Rudy Giuliani's radio show on WABC
now having a disclaimer before it? And that guy, Lindell, who put out the Trump video, now has a long disclaimer before the video. What do you make of these developments?
STELTER: Every source I have spoken with at Fox News, for the past month, I've been re-interviewing people, for the next edition of my book. And everybody says the same thing. They are desperate to win their audience back.
Their viewers are mad, mad that Trump lost. They believe Trump actually won the election. And producers at Fox are desperate to win their audience back. That's what's going on at Newsmax. That's what's going on at One America News.
So, these shows are trying to feed this fantasy story that Trump actually won, but they're also trying to avoid being sued, trying to avoid the scrutiny and embarrassment.
And frankly, Chris, it's impossible to do both. It's impossible to spin these lies, and avoid being held accountable - avoid being held accountable. We know Dominion has sued Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. Dominion may sue the Networks next. And we know that Smartmatic has already sued Fox News.
There's no way to have it both ways. But goodness, they are trying!
CUOMO: It's not going to help them, in terms of the litigable nature of the claim, and it's not going to help them in terms of not having to defend Dobbs, because he's going to have an indemnification claim with them, as this being done in the pursuit of his work.
And Fox now has something that wasn't as real in the first edition of your book, competition for that angry White audience. So, it'll be interesting what happens.
Brian Stelter, this was good. Thank you, for jumping in here, last second, to take us through this.
STELTER: See you soon.
CUOMO: Appreciate you.
STELTER: Thanks.
CUOMO: Good luck with the new edition of the book. Can't wait to read it!
STELTER: Thanks.
CUOMO: All right, thank you very much for watching us. You know? I like on a Friday the kind of try to pick some spots of things that shaped the week.
The Lou Dobbs thing just happened. I don't think it's a one-off. I don't know what they're doing over there. But, obviously, their business model isn't working anymore in terms of the editorial of the news.
